By nature

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, 

through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

~George Washington Carver

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~Albert Einstein

Leave the leaves alone... no more

Leaf art -- that's what I have come to call it.

In the last couple of months, the sight of heavily munched-on leaves became more common around our garden -- ubiquitous almost. Admiring the pretty lavender hibiscus blooms, I noticed quite a few leaves with jagged patterns; every morning while waiting patiently for signs of new yellow hibiscus buds to show up in the nearby pot, the number of chomped up greens seemed to increase. I was accustomed to seeing half-eaten leaves; for some time, Oleander Hawk-moth and Vine Hawk-moth caterpillars made the chichirica and a las cuatro plants their home and main source of sustenance. I even made a few of them my pets, keeping them in jars and regularly giving them a stash of greenery for their meals till it was time for them to cocoon. Eventually they transformed into marvelous winged beauties.

But this time it was different. It was like whatever was responsible for the uniquely fashioned foliage plodded on with gusto. The result was almost like art -- munching here and there, never staying on the same spot for long, hence the punctuated surfaces and interestingly irregular edges. It was partly amazing, partly exasperating. Though leaves naturally grew a certain way, who said they had to stay that way, especially when some tiny creatures were designed to feed on foliage?

Even the Dona Aurora wasn't spared from the "bullet-riddled look". At the same time I noticed that too many hairy caterpillars were showing up in our garden. There they were, crawling on the leaves of nearly each of the half dozen potted plants. A swipe of the coconut tree frond mid-rib broom (okay, let's just call it by its usual name -- walis tingting) yielded three or four higad at a time from the santan hedge. And, they weren't simply resting, snoozing, or anything unproductive like that -- most of the time they were eating away, jagged leaves and flower petals presenting the evidence! I therefore concluded that controlling the population of the "backpacker caterpillars" -- the name with which I've come to refer to them as they looked like they carried backpacks -- for the time being was called for.

"Higad lang po 'yan. Hindi nagiging paru-paro," chirped one of the street kids who stopped by our gate, hanging around me as I took snapshots of some plants and being jolted when a backpacker caterpillar reared its hairy body from the santan hedge, almost touching his fingers. "Namaga nga po itong kamay ko nung umakyat ako ng puno ng bayabas tapos nahawakan ko bigla," the little boy added, stretching out his hand to reveal the subsiding inflammation on his right palm.

So, potential skin allergy trigger, plant destroyer, imminent invasion, and non-winged future as a moth or butterfly -- could all these and a potential infestation not point to a need to eliminate the hairy crawlies? I don't know what technically constitutes an infestation but getting to observe several of these little backpackers everyday seems to come close! So, I set to work: I took pictures (I was still fascinated by their atypical physical features) then proceeded to (gulp!) kill each one that I spotted among our plants. This went on for about a week...

A little backpacker and an even tinier one (frankly, I'm not sure if it's an offspring, sibling, or a mere appendage/shed "fur") under a bougainvillea leaf)...

... another one that was making its way around the pots...

A bunch of them that I gingerly picked off with a stick from the foliage (lest one of them give me a taste of the venom from its backpack should my hand accidentally touch the prickly tufts on its back)... and that was it. Till now I haven't seen a single one of these backpackers in our midst.... which I have come to regret after making a discovery three days ago:

The "backpacker caterpillar," I learned, is called the Tussock caterpillar, which -- after cocooning -- becomes a Tussock moth.

Yellow tussock moth

After coming across the discovery online, I felt crestfallen. I've killed about a dozen of them already... I told myself. All those potential moths, gone. Well, I learned two things that day: first, those backpacker caterpillars don't remain caterpillars all their life but become moths; second, always verify your information. Maybe I should let that little boy who hurt his hand from a higad also learn two things like I did if I should ever run into him again.

Oh, there's a third thing I learned (or more accurately, was reminded of) that day: God made everything with a purpose in mind. I've yet to find out if Tussock moths are pollinators, but even if it turns out they're not, is that the gauge we ought to use in determining the importance of their existence?

At around this time, I was also reading a booklet that centered on Laudato Si, Pope Francis' latest encyclical.  And after the vital discovery concerning the backpacker caterpillars, the Pope's words as contained in the booklet "Laudato Si: An integral ecology for contemporary man" -- a Documentation Service publication -- resounded with me:

84. Our insistence that each human being is an image of God should not make us overlook the fact that each creature has its own purpose. None is superfluous. The entire material universe speaks of God's love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God (...) 

85. God has written a precious book, "whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe". The Canadian bishops rightly pointed out that no creature is excluded from this manifestation of God: "From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe. It is also a continuing revelation of the divine" (...)

So, little backpacker caterpillars, you are again most welcome in our little garden. Now I am not about to allow our home to be infested with hairy, creeping creatures; for now, though, let's just say I appreciate leaf art enough to let those caterpillars live out their gustatory tendencies to leave artistic marks on our plants for more unconventional foliage.

The tiniest Tussock moth caterpillar I've seen so far

Before September ends...

... here are some news and features from around the planet. They either delve on happenings in September or were penned this month though tackling incidents from previous months. Lots to digest, lots to be aware about, lots to be thankful for, lots to spur us on to concrete action.

A hunting ban saps a village's livelihood

SANKUYO, Botswana — Lions have been coming out of the surrounding bush, prowling around homes and a small health clinic, to snatch goats and donkeys from the heart of this village on the edge of one of Africa’s great inland deltas. Elephants, too, are becoming frequent, unwelcome visitors, gobbling up the beans, maize and watermelons that took farmers months to grow.



Vatican parish welcomes first refugee family following Pope's appeal

Vatican City, Sep 18, 2015 / 11:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A family of four has been welcomed by the community of the Vatican's St. Anne parish after Pope Francis' made an appeal earlier this month for every church in Europe open their doors to refugees.



Nigeria refuses to give in to UN pressure on abortion, 'sexual rights'

NEW YORK, September 18, 2015 (C-Fam) A powerful and controversial UN population agency told the Nigerian government to change its position on reproductive health last week after setbacks in advancing abortion and sexual rights for adolescents in Africa.



Australian PM Turnbull calls for more women MPs as he defends Cabinet reshuffle

CANBERRA (AFP) - New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull defended his major shake-up of the Cabinet on Monday (Sept 21) and said he wished the percentage of women in Parliament were higher so he could have appointed more to key roles.

Pope calls for conversion of hearts and minds in Cuba

(Vatican Radio) Conversion of hearts and minds to Christ: this was the central theme of Pope Francis’s homily at Mass in the Cuban city of Holguin on Monday, the day the Church marks the feast of St Matthew.



Louisiana officially cancels Planned Parenthood funding in light of 'baby parts' scandal

This week, the state of Louisiana sent a letter to Planned Parenthood, detailing reasons for the state’s termination of Medicaid funding to the abortion giant. The letter lists numerous scandals involving Planned Parenthood (including those uncovered by the Center for Medical Progress videos), citing Planned Parenthood’s illegal actions and dishonesty as reasons for the termination.



Nepal adopts new Constitution as protesters clash with police

KATHMANDU • Nepal adopted a new Constitution yesterday aimed at bolstering its transformation into a peaceful democracy after decades of autocratic rule and a long civil war, even as protests raged over its terms.



Photo of Africa images from The New York Times / Photo of Pope Francis from Agence France Press

You make my heart beat faster: thanks for the scare, you big, black bee

Since discovering the amazing beauty of the flowers in our garden a couple of years ago and finding myself fascinated by the various insects (namely, butterflies, moths and caterpillars) and the way they quietly carry out their "work" day after day, I've come to see the natural world as yet another mirror that reflects God's wisdom. The minutest details have been taken care of, even the ones to which human eyes are oblivious but which are there for reasons only the Creator knows. I have also come to appreciate the little creatures that don't exactly exude breath-taking beauty but which -- so I learned later -- play an indispensable role in the grand scheme of things. Here's one such creature:

After seeing a couple of photos of bees I posted on Facebook, my friend Stef gave me a link to a BBC documentary on just how vital the existence of bees (in this case, honeybees) was to ours. It was mind-blowing. It's here if you'd like to watch it.

Well, a recent experience led me to appreciate these formerly-thought-of-as-ugly creatures all the more, though fear had something to do with my change of heart..

One morning about a month ago, I decided that I would continue my quiet time out in the garden amid the lantana hedge, atop a ladder. The brightly colored flowers were a-plenty, and butterflies and moths had been "visiting" more frequently again, making for a marvelous sight that could probably prompt even the most hardened heart to contemplate the beauty of the natural world. It suffices to say that it can be an immensely tranquil scene to witness.

Top of the world: More accurately, top of the ladder

Done with prayer inside my room, I headed out the front door, set the ladder near the hedge, and tucked my phone securely in my pocket (I figured taking a snapshot or two of a pretty butterfly would be a nice bonus). As I climbed the steps, I already admired the sight before me. Sure, the vibrant colors of petals please the senses, but greenery can be magnificent, too, in its simplicity. Reaching the top of the ladder afforded me a view of the entire hedge. I slowly turned and settled into a comfortable position from where I could continue my quiet time. Things sure look different from up here, I remember thinking while bringing out my phone and setting it on camera just in case some pretty butterfly happened to land near enough.

How relaxing it was. By this time I had grown accustomed to seeing things like hairy caterpillars around our garden that rather than being irked or agitated by the sight of the creepy crawlies, my reaction would be pure fascination.

I snapped away with each remarkable sight. "Now that's something you don't see everyday," I muttered as a hairy caterpillar slowly made its way toward a smaller, non-hairy caterpillar on a neighboring leaf. Would this constitute a petty quarrel in the insect world? A "Match of the Century" of sorts? Caterpillar Armaggedon?

I was content with sitting on my post, savoring the quiet and watching as butterflies zoomed past but none sticking around long enough to photograph. Perhaps I had been there for some 10 or so minutes when a bee appeared at the far end of the hedge. From flower to flower it hovered and landed for a few moments, doing its thing. I wasn't really concerned because I had seen bees all the time, though I admit I was always on the ground and they were up there, far from the ground.

As the bee slowly grew closer, I started taking photos... until I realized it was much too close for comfort. At this point I had visions of being stung by the creature, which of course sent me into a semi-panic (the bee, after all, was not your average bee but a huge, black, furry one. In a span of, oh, 15 seconds maybe, I thought of how best to fall from the ladder so that I don't sustain a broken leg or hip or any of my precious limbs: Wait, should I fall foward, that way I land on these santan bushes, thereby cushioning me a bit? How do I avoid those pots? Should I lean back? Yikes, that will tip the ladder over.  Ack! Here it comes.... oh my God. Maybe I'll shut my eyes so it doesn't sting me there. I don't want to go blind! Oh no.... were the thoughts that raced through my head as the bee hovered closer and the buzzing sound grew louder.
 

At one point, the bee seemed to stare right at me, and I -- with phone a few inches from my face and trying to maintain my balance on top of the ladder -- sat still and all the while wondering if my racing hearbeat would send a warning to the menacing-looking thing. I remember starting to utter the Memorare softly in a pleading tone (and quite rapidly) and then cutting it short to say "Oh, God..." because I thought the bee would actually fly straight toward me.

Well, it didn't.

It turned its attention on the flowers again, hovering over some that were on another part of the hedge. Best moment of the entire experience. My pulse rate decreased and for a few seconds I just sat there.

I think I'm invading their space, I concluded, and with that I slowly made my way down the ladder, still dazed that I escaped a possible stinging from a very big, very black and very furry bee.

"Hindi ka naman aanuhin basta hindi mo sila sasaktan (They won't do anything to you as long as you don't hurt them)," was my mother's casual remark after I related the nerve-wracking incident that left me all sweaty (not from the sun exposure or humidity, but from nervousness). Well, I didn't know that. Besides, I had made up my mind to let the winged creatures frequenting our garden have their own space. You know, respecting the fact that they have their own jobs to do and that I might be interfering even when I think I'm simply admiring them and their realm, and trying to capture them in photos.

Well, now that I think about it, I've captured enough images of the wondrous sights I've been fortunate to see in our small garden. And what ultimately counts doesn't lie in perfectly composed pictures or witnessing butterflies and other little creatures carry out their part in the ecosystem. If I'd ask myself if seeing all this has been keeping me on the path of a virtuous life directed toward Heaven, I would definitely want to be able to say a resounding "Yes!"

But then, keeping hundreds and hundreds (more like over a thousand) of photos of flowers and insects from every angle in my computer doesn't sound very virtuous, so let me share some of them here before I delete them for good.

One sunny day at the lantana hedge

Looking up from under the hedge, this is what I see

One of several kinds of Amata wasp moths

The Common Lime Butterfly, one of the pretty pollinators in our garden

Not so common: lavender hibiscus ("gumamela")

This Philippine Common Snow Flat (I have no idea why it's called that) is pretty rare; I've seen one in our garden only twice so far

The lantana hedge was bursting with color on the day after a thunderstorm

Such pretty leaves providing a resting place for this Great Eggfly butterfly

I see a lot of these wasp moths flying around our garden. This was taken right after it rained.

Army Green caterpillars love the plants in our yard

When the Army Green caterpillar changes color, that means it's ready to pupate soon.

An Army Green Hawk-moth, the morning after emerging from its cocoon!

A bee busy at work, oblivious to any observer like me

I find butterflies and moths with tattered wings truly fascinating as the injury doesn't seem to faze them. This is a Great Eggfly butterfly, which I see a lot of in our garden.

A hairy caterpillar that, I'm told, does not transform into a butterfly or moth but simply remains a caterpillar all its life. Boy, I shouldn't have believed that.

A hardly noticeable honeybee among the santan petals

Charming light-colored lantana

These Skipper butterflies can test one's alertness and patience in photographing them, since they dart from place to place and their rapid movements are quite unpredictable.

June 4, 2013: the first snapshot that got me hooked on these winged creatures

The circle of life beyond Mufasa's words to Simba

There's a place for everyone under the sun -- that much I have accepted. Each of us has a role to play, each of us has the freedom to realize our potential, to pursue our dreams, to make the world better. One day, however, I was wondering what could possibly be the role of ants in the grand scheme of things. Why in the world did God create ants? They are indeed amazing creatures as anyone who observes their behavior can arrive at. Systematic, hardworking, can even lift and carry around things that are bigger than them -- who wouldn't find them fascinating? It's no wonder these tiny creatures are the stuff of inspirational anecdotes. I'll admit, though, that at the time the "why-on-earth-did-God-make-ants?" question, admiration was not what I was feeling for the tiny ones. They were annoying, always quick to appear only moments after bread crumbs dropped on the dining table or a drop of gravy spilled near the kitchen sink. There they were, arriving in single file and circling the potential loot, then minutes later it was like an entire battalion had gotten wind of the news and was ready for battle or whatever it was they were programmed by nature to carry out.

Some friends have wondered out loud, too, what could possibly be the reason for cockroaches' existence. Well, to this I have no answer and I don't exactly spend time thinking about it. But after watching the short video below, I have no doubt that God -- in his infinite wisdom and goodness -- created these seemingly useless creatures with a clear purpose in mind. They, too, have a place under the sun, and I will probably understand the big picture only when all is revealed at the end of time. Meanwhile, the following shall suffice in putting in the proper perspective the workings of the natural world:

He's having a ball

Well, what do you know? I was all set to write "Whoever came up with this awesome invention is a genius!" And then a comment below the video I'm sharing here led me to the website that gives the lowdown on how the ingenious ball launcher came to be. It's called the iFetch and, like many other tools and gadgets we easily take for granted nowadays, it was invented out of pure necessity -- in this case, a schoolboy needed a solution to his dog's incessant barking which was keeping him from getting his homework done. With the help of his grandfather he came up with one! You can read the rest of the story plus other details on the iFetch website.

And here is the cute little dog having some serious fun with the automatic ball launcher:

Summer is upon us in the tropics once again...

... and even my dog finds the temperature too much to handle without a hat.

Good thing dogs don't need topical sunscreen. But we could use some of it everyday, particularly if our days have us going out in the sun even for just minutes at a time (unless you're an infant getting your daily dose of vitamin D in the early morning sun).  Concern about sun exposure goes beyond skin-deep, after all.

Of fast cars and dog sleds

Movies about car races don't appeal to me, but those with canine characters and uplifting story lines do -- which is why even though most people who know Paul Walker associate the actor with the Fast and the Furious films, I remember him from Eight Below. The 40-year-old actor died in a car crash, and what makes it all the more significant to Filipinos is that was involved in raising funds to help typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors in the Philippines. The crash happened on a day that a charity event organized by the actor and partners took place.

From a CNN story:

Walker and Rodus had planned Saturday as a day to help survivors of victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The car shop website invited customers to the Charity Toy Drive & Automotive Social Gathering.

'During the holiday season, many economically disadvantaged children from around the world are faced with the same dilemma year after year; the lacking of joy and cheer," the invitation read. "Our goal here is to be able to provide aid to these less fortunate children in hopes of helping them grow up to become confident, responsible and productive young adults.'

Full story

Eight Below is a 2006 adventure film inspired by a true story. It's great to watch with the kids as well -- it's two hours long, though, so you may want to watch it with them in installments.

What's all the buzz?

Did you ever see a copy of The How & Why Wonder Book of Ants and Bees? We had one at home and it was my only means of exposure to bees... till now. Of course there was National Geographic and other similar television shows, but we had only the standard local channels at home while growing up, and those programs were accessible on cable.

I'm not sure why but I didn't see any bees in our garden during my childhood. It was only months ago that I started spotting those little winged creatures buzzing about the hedge composed of lantana (which draws quite a lot of insects, I just discovered recently). Frankly, I don't really care for bees -- they're not much to look at, and there's the stinging thing going on. No one wants to run the risk of being stung by a bee, and there are many other creatures roaming about our garden that go about their business and don't pay attention to humans.

"They're so ugly!" I told a friend once after snapping a few photos of a bee hopping from one flower to another; the pictures were clear enough to let me zoom in and still see sharp images of the tiny creature, furry portions, bulging eyes and all. After watching an assortment of butterflies and moths make their way around the hedge of colorful blooms several times a day, the drab appearance of bees looked even more drab.

Pretty soon I became accustomed to the presence of the bees and continued photographing them. It probably took a nice picture to help me appreciate them and accept their less-than-charming appearance. Well, capturing an image of a little creature engrossed in its "job" in its little portion of the hedge of pretty blooms can change one's prejudices. While life goes on around them, while political elections take place, airplanes crash, a royal birth is highly anticipated, news of corruption blows up, petty quarrels happen on social media -- while all these take place, the little bees go about quietly doing what they are meant to do. And what a worker each one is: beautiful flowers keep blooming all around because of it. Because of this insect that I found so ugly, there is much beauty to appreciate in the foliage around our home.

I found a video of a segment from the Discovery Channel which shows, in less than 5 minutes, how honey is made. These bees are amazing! But then so is human ingenuity, which is responsible for coming up with new and improved ways to do just about anything -- including making good use of that all-natural gooey fluid from honeybees. I shall never think of these winged creatures as ugly again, and I hope I never get stung!