There was an old ditty that went:
Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it.
Let’s do it – let’s fall in love!
We can certainly add Japanese beetles to the refrain. They have returned to our domain and seem to be always paired together, attached at the hip, so to speak.
I don’t like the idea of them working so hard on making more of themselves to bedevil us and our apple trees. It’s almost worse that they’re such beautiful bugs. I’m reminded of the movie “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” in which Howard Keel (as Adam) breaks into joyful song as he considers going into town to find a bride. He sings, “Bless her beautiful hide, wherever she may be.” Well, the Japanese beetles definitely have a beautiful hide, but the song I’m singing is a little different: “Curse their beautiful hides, upon our apple tree.”
But even as I write that, I am chastened to think of cursing that which the good Lord has put in our yard for a purpose. I read a beautiful poem recently that had a repeated refrain of “Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them…” Corrie Ten Boom used to tell the story of when she and her sister Betsie were in the German concentration camps. Their barracks was plagued with lice and Corrie complained about them bitterly. But Betsie was made of better stuff and insisted that they should thank God for the lice, for He has a purpose in everything. Sure enough, the guards hated the lice too and refused to go into their barracks, leaving them free to have Bible studies, makeshift church services and freedom from harassment.
So perhaps I don’t need to complain about these beetles and curse them, but there’s still such a thing as taking dominion. The battle lines have been drawn and we will still defend our homeland. My husband put out a little competing pheromone to entice the beetles away from their lovers, as well as spraying the little devils on our leaves.
The war has begun.
I’ll probably delete this in the morning after checking the battle statistics of the day.
Lynniebeemuseoday 