The Darker Side of Autumn

I hate crickets!

I’m a nature lover, and there are few of God’s creatures that I don’t like. Maybe I should say, to clarify, there are many I don’t want sneaking up on me, such as snakes and spiders, but most I find fascinating and beautiful.

Crickets, however, I’m not a fan of. There are several reasons, I believe. They look like a combination of a roach and a grasshopper. Each Autumn they gather in mass in places they shouldn’t be, like my garage. And, worst of all, they hop around so sporadically, usually right at me.

I think my disenchantment with crickets is rooted in my years of work as a lifeguard at Woodland Pool in Lexington. We used a fire hose to wash out the shower rooms each evening. We’d find all sorts of things in there, but usually nothing a trashcan or a strong stream of water couldn’t take care of.

But the crickets! As we’d spray under the benches they would come flying out, it seemed, by the thousands. I would change jobs with someone else whenever I could to get out of that nightmarish experience.

It’s fall now, their breeding and egg laying time of year. So we’ll see and hear them more now than at other times. I’ve tried to be neutral to them. I’ve even tried looking at them differently, such as through the eyes of a fisherman, who sees them as bait for his next supper.

But, I don’t think I’m going to overcome my disdain for these hard-body, noise making insects. So, I’ve decided to accept the fact that I don’t like them. All I can do is avoid them as much as possible and focus on more pleasant things.

There are things like crickets throughout our lives. People, jobs, issues. The serenity prayer says to accept the things we cannot change, and I think that’s a good approach. The important thing is to recognize what makes our face curl up in ugly expressions and avoid them when we can and tolerate them when we can’t. Then we just need to be sure to sprinkle a few extra things that make us happy to balance things out.

A beautiful fall sunset, anyone?