I was out picking ripe Job’s Tears beads the other day and being startled by the occassional grasshopper jump.
About three grasshoppers into the harvest, I started to think about why I like seeing them in there eating the plants I’ve worked so hard to nurture. There are two reasons, first is a general feeling of empathy toward all creatures. The grasshoppers (and me and the Job’s Tears plants for that matter) are just following along with the way existence works, doing their best to survive and make more of themselves. I don’t like waging war on fellow creatures unnecessarily. The grasshoppers are part of a balanced ecosystem out there, which is worth a few less seeds for me.
The second reason is what actually brings me a smile when I see the grasshoppers munching on the Job’s Tears plants!
The grasshoppers remind me of biblical locusts munching on ancient fields. Why does that make me smile? Good question! It’s because the Job’s Tears plants are from biblical times and were grown in that region of the world and probably WERE munched on by locusts. So, having a few grasshoppers in my little patch of Job’s Tear plants is a thin thread that joins us (human, grasshopper, plant) to our ancestors.