So this week’s Legacy Lesson was to “wonder in nature” with a picture of a Praying Mantis parked on the wall outside my door.  What started out as wonder quickly turned into; careful what you wish for…you’ve got to be just a little bit distrustful of anything that can stay that still for that long.

I took that picture on my way to a writing workshop in the city being taught by the amazing Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way fame.  It was all writing from the time we walked in until we left.  Blank piece of paper please and she would throw out a cue.  One of the more interesting cues was to create a tabloid type piece, outrageous, highly unlikely, and pulled from somewhere where you normally don’t live.  Ok, you’ve got two minutes.

Here’s what came out:

The dog told me to kill the Praying Mantis.  What?  No not in dog speak but in English so I could understand perfectly that she wanted that thing dead.  We argued, isn’t it against the law I said?  Are we really arguing I asked her?

She didn’t care, if freaked her out every time we walked out the door just clinging to the side of the railing, eyes bulging like it knows something.  How does it do that we wondered.  In the end the dog decided we should go out the back.  She said it would be better for her if I didn’t wind up in jail.

Time.

Yeah I know it’s not the most outrageous story but truth be told I was the one a little freaked out by the damn thing and obviously it was on my mind.  It’s not like the dogs don’t “tell” you what’s on their mind by the tilt of the head, the refusal to move or the running for the back door.

I was pretty happy to see it wasn’t there when I got home.  A little research revealed I wasn’t wrong in my distrust.  They should be called Preying Mantis instead of Praying Mantis.  These little things are ruthless, rip the male’s head off after sex, eat bugs and frogs and chip monks kind of ruthless.  You heard me they are purebred killers.  And no it is not and never was illegal to kill one of them.  The myth originated in the 1950’s but no one knows why, they weren’t endangered and they were considered beneficial for the pests they ate.  I was kind of relieved to hear that because a couple of years ago there was one in the house and I dropped a very thick book on it from about 4 feet in the air.  I was sure no one saw me but…  Oh and that’s not all they ate, using those knife like front arms to saw up their prey.  Eeewww.  Just saying I was glad it was gone when I got home.

Fast forward to the morning when I’m making my coffee and holy shit.  I jumped out of my skin when I saw this thing hadn’t left, just changed position to the screen on my kitchen window. 

Come on already.  Go find another garden to stake out.  Of course now I’m obsessed so when I get home and search it out I find it moved only about 4 inches.  There are some people that believe the Mantis can teach you how to remain focused and centered in the midst of confusion and chaos. Like a warrior, s/he maintains self-control. The actions of the Mantis are not guided by others, but rather by an inner force within the stillness of self.  Ok, sure, not me.  I want her/him to get its bulging eyes outta here.

Next day it winds up on the door next to mine.  My friend John comes over to give me an estimate for some work to be done and I put him in charge of either a) moving it far away or b) whacking it with the paper laying on the porch.  No, he says, it’s illegal.  Here we go again.   In the end he scooted the damn thing over the side of the porch with his tape measure…gone.  I was pretty convinced it moved along until this morning when both dogs jumped up and stared at the fireplace…book in hand

that poor…

tiny…

little….

innocent…

cricket didn’t stand a chance.  Done.