The Caterpillar Tree was chopped down today. In less than 10 minutes, three men with chain saws eliminated the once-lovely flowering tree, taking most of the caterpillars with it.
For weeks we’d been spraying a vinegar-cayenne solution on the poisonous caterpillars as often as possible to get rid of them. But their ever-replenishing population seemed to be in the millions. The Brown Tail Moth caterpillar’s fuzzy protrusions are toxic to humans, dogs, and cats. Prolific, these creatures reminded me of my Baltimore childhood dealing with the 20-year locusts (not poisonous) that covered every inch of everything, more than annoying my young self.
Some things in life are far more irritating than pesky locusts and toxic caterpillars. Some even more devilish than Maine’s pervasive Blackflies and mosquitos (both of which, to my consternation, I seem to attract profusely).
What’s more awful than these pests? I’ll tell you: nitwit politicians biting citizenry with lies, swarming on social media, press, and TV, attacking Americans with poisonous conspiracies and idiotic ideas.
Take for instance those politicians who celebrated January 6th’s insurrection criminals by holding a fake hearing complete with made-up Congressional seals in a visitors’ center made to look like a Congressional committee room. They praised men who attacked the police trying to protect them and poo-pooed judges and prosecutors defending justice. These ridiculous politicians gave their “deepest sympathy” to the organizers of the January 6th insurrection–those rioters who caused $1.5 million dollars in damages to the U.S. Capital which will take $30 million to repair according to the Capital architect. And who will pay for this? Yep, us taxpayers.
Where do people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz and Kari Lake come from? Did they not grow up in America? Did they not benefit from our free public school education? Matt graduated from a public high school and, later, a public university as did Marjorie, as did Kari. Yet they and their cronies would knock out most public services, including the DOJ, FBI, IRS, etc., thereby destroying our democratic government. Where and when did these idiots develop their distaste for our republic?
They remind me of caterpillars. Poisonous and dangerous they eat away at the leaves of democracy. But unlike caterpillars we cannot get rid of them–except through voting them out of office. This we must do or be prepared to enter a new unwarranted period in the U.S. lacking intelligent governance, transplanted in autocracy.
The “tree” that is America was rooted in freedom’s soil and honest efforts to keep it growing. It’s branches grew strong through a principled constitution imbibing justice for all. Our fragile tree needs to be rid of invasive caterpillars that would destroy everything Americans have worked for for more than two hundred years. It’s up to us.
Sturdy Oak, watercolor, matted, approx. 26″ x 22″, sold, by Gwendolyn Evans
Artwork: Sturdy Oak, watercolor, matted, approx. 26″ x 22″, sold. Trees are often a source for interesting paintings. This one stood near our first home in Pennsylvania and my watercolor of it was sold shortly after I painted it.