It’s Only Natural

I squashed a spotted lanternfly for the first time in late August while walking in Swan Point cemetery in Providence. Actually, a friend squashed it because it was too quick for me. Those bugs can really move fast. As of this writing, I haven’t seen one in Rehoboth yet but I assume they are here. Just what we need, another destructive invasive species on the loose. The spotted lanternfly is a plant-hopping insect originally from China and southeast Asia that has now spread invasively in the U.S. and elsewhere. It poses a great threat to many crops.

The spotted lanternfly, whatever you might think of it, is natural. I say this because “natural” is often tossed around as a source of goodness and purity when referring to various foods, drinks, etc. Yet many things that are natural are also dangerous, poisonous and deadly. Arsenic is found in nature, as are deadly mushrooms and poisonous jellyfish, to name just a few things. Then there are those smallish tropical snakes with enough venom to kill a huge animal that they could not possibly consume. Why? Ask Mother Nature. Why does poison ivy look so innocuous growing there with all the other non-poisonous plants?

The culture of nature worship might be traced backed to the Romantic era of 200 plus years ago. A famous quote from the English poet William Wordsworth went: “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.” Define “betray”, William. Of course, living in England, he was probably not familiar with hurricanes/typhoons, tornadoes, volcanoes and earthquakes, all a part of nature. We even call them natural disasters.

My favorite recent observation on “natural” is from a doctor commenting in The New York Times: “As a physician I can tell you what was pretty natural before clean water, vaccines, and antibiotics: death.” It is all well and good to exercise and eat healthy foods, but that will take you only so far when you’re up against bacteria trying to kill you. For progress against deadly pathogens, we can thank science and modern medicine.

For example, some poor soul in the Lake Tahoe area just contracted the plague this summer (probably from a flea on a local rodent). But thanks to a strong dose of antibiotics, this dreaded disease can be cured in individuals and need no longer spread like the plague, the terror of humanity.

Nature is such a generic word it can mean a variety of things. It can mean getting out and enjoying the natural world by walking in the woods. The Japanese use the phrase “forest bathing” to describe walking in the woods to commune with nature. Certainly, when the human world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, it is restoring to take a walk (or hike, if you’re more ambitious) in the great outdoors whether in the woods or by the sea.

September brings mixed emotions, relief that the heat and humidity of summer is mostly gone but a melancholy feeling as daylight begins to disappear. Where we live in New England we lose over an hour of daylight in September. Those early sunsets are beginning to sneak up on us. All the more reason to get out to enjoy the bright autumn sunlight while we have it. And you can’t complain that it’s getting chilly if you spent the summer moaning about the oppressive weather, or so I tell myself. The ocean is another part of nature that we are lucky to enjoy in this part of the world (barring a hurricane). Whether on it, in it, or just looking at it, the sea has always had a hypnotic effect on many people. There’s something primal about being at the very edge of the land and enjoying the sound of the surf.

The last word on nature should go to renowned naturalist and TV presenter Sir David Attenborough, who in his almost 100 years has introduced millions of viewers to the wonder and importance of the natural world. He has said, “It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement, the greatest source of visual beauty, the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living … It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth."