When the Crickets Hesitate

Summer is heating up and bird and cricket songs drift through the air.  According to the Library of Congress Science Reference Department, there is a way to ascertain the temperature by listening carefully to the sound that crickets make.  

Male crickets make the sound by rubbing their wings together, usually with the purpose of impressing females.  The rate depends on the cricket’s absolute temperature.

• For Fahrenheit:  count the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37.
• For Celsius:  count the number of chirps in 8 seconds and add 5.

Summer Haiku

Silence, a a deeper silence

When the crickets hesitate.

~ Leonard Cohen

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Seafood Buffet

Dismembered crab carcasses litter the trail that runs through the salt marsh.  Seagulls fly onto the trail to crack open and eat crabs found in the marsh.  Although Rock Crabs are most common, Green Crabs are also on the seagulls’ menu.   Sometimes cracked Northern Moon Snail shells can be found as well, remnants of a tasty breakfast.

Although Rock Crabs can run sideways at great speed, and are masterful at wedging themselves between the rocks along the shore, they are still easily caught by the seagulls.  These crabs are most active at night. 

Crabs are Decapods, having five pairs of legs.  Their abdomens are small and curled under their bodies.  They share the lobsters’ marvelous ability to regenerate legs, claws, eyes or antennae.  They are predators and scavengers, eating dead creatures found on the bottom of the marsh and sea.  Common prey are starfish, sea urchins and other crabs.  Crab shells fade in the sunlight, becoming a light orange color over time.

Neither Green nor Rock Crabs are consumed by people in Nova Scotia.  Snow Crabs, more common in Cape Breton, are the type usually eaten here. 

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Weaving Wisdom into Nature

Spiders seem to be everywhere I look these days:  on the beach, along the trail, in the yard and in the house.  Clusters of baby spiders hang from the vines near the front door where they’ll make their home.  In the evenings, they’ll have plenty to eat as insects are attracted towards the front light. 

A fear of spiders, arachnophobia,  is common among humans.  Among phobias, it shares top billing with fears of death and public speaking.  I’ve never understood this fear, as spiders do us such a tremendous service by consuming a large number of insects.  

An ancient myth tells the story of how a maiden with an amazing talent for weaving caught the eye of Athena, goddess of wisdom and skills.  The girl, Arachne, refused to acknowledge her teachers and proudly stated that she was better than everyone, including Athena.  She boldly accepted a challenge to out-weave the goddess.  Though her work was excellent, she used her skill to mock the gods and her defiance cost her dearly.  Her master work was torn to shreds by the angered goddess and she was driven to hang herself in despair.  Taking pity, Athena changed her into a spider so that she and all generations after her could continue their weaving work.

What if, instead of fearing spiders, we saw them as reminders of Athena’s lessons:

• don’t define yourself by your work, and 
• the greater your talent and skill, the more important it is to practice humility.

The story of Arachne can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI

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