The plan was to lead a nature hike this morning and talk about life. I brought my camera. But, a brief stop at the gas station made me think about death. When I saw this beautiful Pine Borer squished on a metal plate with her eggs and some of her innards lying off to the side, I thought of certain Emily Dickinson poems, particularly "Because I Could not Stop for Death." I felt bad for the beetle, but even worse when some passersby seemed to mock my concern. When I picked her up to move her out of the traffic pattern, her legs and antennae started moving. I hoped her small brain wasn't capable of feeling much pain, or that maybe she was in shock and wouldn't feel anything before dying. The image of someone purposely stomping on the beetle haunted me on my way to work.
I stopped by one of my standard Milkweed spots and saw that the Red Milkweed Beetles were gone. They've probably already laid their eggs and died. The seed pods looked good, and if I'd had time I would have taken more than these two photos. I'll be back, though, because I love photographing the pods during their burst and catching some of the seeds when they are airborne.
Then I spotted a large patch of Tansy without any bugs. At least I didn't see any. I don't very often photograph Tansy just to celebrate the beauty of Tansy. It's always because of the bug guests, especially the Ambush Bug. Well, you can click on this photo to enlarge it, and myabe you can find a bug or two. I couldn't.
Then I had to stop for death again. I titled this photo "Human Intervention" because I felt bad that the fox was struck in a road. The only obvious injury was to the hindquarters which meant it could have been a slow, painful death. But maybe it was immediately in shock and didn't suffer much.
I prefer to remember her this way, so I titled the last photo "Rest in Peace."
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