Five Things for the End of May
This one’s a little longer because I missed a couple of weeks.
Plant
This week’s plant is another “weed” that’s popular with butterflies. What is it? Ruellia blechum, more commonly known as the Green Shrimp Plant, not to be confused with the Mexican or golden shrimp plants (two different genera, Justicia brandegeeana and Pachystachys lutea). The Ruellia blechum (the green one) is a host plant for the Malachite butterfly (pictured) even though a lot of people see the plant as an invasive weed.
A lot of “discourse” between “the perfect lawn” and “pollinator-friendly meadow” seems to happen online each spring. People on one side like the streamlined unnatural lawn, maybe as a status symbol or maybe required by an HOA (they’re a whole other issue). People on the other want native plants to provide pollen and nectar sources for bees and butterflies (and other pollinators like beetles, birds, and bats).
I think most people can agree that pollinators are important, and while I can understand people preferring different aesthetics, the herbicides and pesticides used on the “Scotts ad” lawns can runoff and pollute aquifers, rivers, and kill pollinators who visit the yards.
I’m glad there are people leaning into the “meadowfication “of lawns, but I think it’s going to take a while before it takes off. Bummer, really.
Music
Last week I couldn’t get enough of Ani DiFranco’s “Baby Roe” and “Unprecedented Shit” from her new album and the collab song “We Won’t Back Down” (MILCKm, Autumn Rowe, and BIIANCO). Also was digging “I C U” from Th3rdstream and Autumn Rowe.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise’s latest, “Superstar” is great. Totally added Alice Merton’s “Run Away Girl” to my writing playlist and of course Billie Eilish’s newest track, “Lunch” is great.
Books
I just finished Edwidge Danticat’s debut novel (from many years ago), Breath, Eyes, Memory. Very compelling read, but it’s full of generational trauma so it might not be a beach read. My mini English class starts Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy next week as a palate cleanser to The Things They Carried, Macbeth, Antigone, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, among other things. That one might make a better beach read. I’ve also been reading The People We Keep by Allison Larkin. That one doesn’t seem quite as heavy as the Danticat, but I haven’t finished it, yet, so we’ll see.
Last week’s book was What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown and Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen. The Hiaasen book was very dated and ended up being kind of a slog because of it. The Brown book was great.
Animal
The Eastern Screech Owl is Florida’s smallest owl species (they’re tiny, but not the smallest in North America or the world) and loves to eat cockroaches. They don’t like making their own nests, but will readily use abandoned woodpecker nests or nesting boxes attached to trees. In other words, if you want your own cockroach pest control, maybe add a screech owl box to your nearest tree. (Ask permission if it isn’t your tree.)
Wild Card
Memory is a weird thing sometimes. Like, every once in a while, like a couple of Fridays ago, I get this brief sense of my teenage self looking over my shoulder wondering at all that’s going on around me. That Friday morning, it started with my teenage self marveling at the breadth of the megalopolis I’ve found myself in, something I don’t really think about anymore except in terms of annoyance at how far away Miami is and what a hike it is to get to anything in Palm Beach County. Teenage me would have loved every inch, though. Hell, technically, teenage me did since I moved to South Florida at nineteen.
In other moments, teen Drew is dismayed at my lack of “accomplishments” and worldly “success” as teenagers define things.
I also happened upon a store I hadn’t been to or thought about since the husband shot his independent film years ago. Instantly, I was back, running through the woods barefoot at night because I’d leant my boots to an actor, while simultaneously driving toward an outreach event at a school with an angry little box turtle named Pete.
(I haven’t edited this. That will only lead to further delays. Think of it as “stream of consciousness” instead of “messy thoughts.”)
Bonus
We got to see a Sandhill Crane family at Jonathan Dickenson State Park over the holiday weekend. They’re adorable, but I didn’t take pictures (wrong side of the car), so here’s a link to a Sandhill Crane family we saw up in Orange City, FL last month.
Take care, people.
It’s messy out there. I read somewhere you should bring a towel.