Dear Curiosity Journal,
In the stillness of a snowy morning hour, I place the coffee kettle on the stove and watch a cabbage moth flutter across the glass of the kitchen window. How do you find yourself flapping about this corner of the farmhouse? Does this kitchen window appear to be a fitting habitat for a moth like yourself? I could ask the same of the Asian beetles who have appeared in the living room window. After a long stretch of winter with relatively few insect encounters, it’s fascinating to observe these misplaced signs of life creeping from the crevices of this old farmhouse. Although the crops they are connected to are far in the future, here they are. When the cabbage grows in the garden, the cabbage moths airily hover over heads. When the neighboring farms harvest the soybeans, the Asian beetles (originally brought in to control aphids) swarm so thickly that they fly into your mouth. However, the soil still sleeps. The cabbage and soybeans have not been planted. Yet, here they are, separated from their habitat, staring out our window alongside me, wondering what to do.
~Joy