On the Road: Kansas: COVID-19 Unfolding, Part 25: Meade and The Situation

Meade City Park in Meade, Kansas. Campground and playground. June 2020.

En route from Tucson to Missouri, I stopped in Meade, Kansas, for two nights.

On Wednesday evening, I visited the pleasant city park. There is a campground there, making it a welcome and comfortable retreat for RVers passing through.

There is a pretty playground, too, and it gave a nod to COVID.

Meade City Park in Meade, Kansas. Playground. June 2020.

Meade City Park in Meade, Kansas. Playground and COVID sign. June 2020.

Meade City Park in Meade, Kansas. Playground and COVID sign. June 2020.

I noticed a clutch of people with musical instruments across a parking lot from the playground. Ah! A small outdoor concert! Fabulous - a safe event outdoors with everyone able to choose their physical distance and still enjoy the music and (careful) conviviality of being with other humans IRL. If they chose to be careful, that is.

The musicians: Talented! Old-timey Christian songs, pleasantly nostalgic.


The music ended, and I learned that several clergy had pulled together to host this event for the purpose of offering solace and fellowship in this Difficult Time.

I reckoned, at first, that the clergy intended to talk about COVID, and maybe also some about the Black Lives Matter protests. 

COVID didn't come up at all. They talked about the protests. But they didn't use the word "protest."



Here are words I heard from the four ministers, all uttered with calm, reasonable, and pastoral tones of voice:

• Race riots
• Fear
• Mobs
• Riots
• Fear
• "The events"
• "The situation"
• Fear
• Arson
• Looting
• Criminal acts

As I listened to the four members of the clergy from Meade, I felt confused. It was like they spoke in code. I understood the words. I understood the usual meanings of the words. But there was an overlay of meaning that kept me asking myself: "What is he really saying here?"

A minister of Meade, Kansas, at Meade City Park. June 2020.

There was much talk by each minister about how the protesters (my word) should turn to God and find peace and healing. There seemed to be an assumption that protesters (or, as the Meade ministers might call them: "rioters") are not people of faith. It seemed to be further implied that people of faith do not protest (my word). Maybe the thinking is: They protest (my word), therefore they have no faith. 

This talk of fear. Fear .... that Meade residents have? 

Fear of what? This wasn't explained. But maybe for Meade residents, it was understood.

A minister of Meade, Kansas, at Meade City Park. June 2020.

When a Black clergy woman strode to the stage, I had two thoughts:

• "Oh! I am pleasantly surprised at Meade! A person of color is at this table!" (Because I have my own biases about small Kansas towns.)
• "I want to hear what she has to say! Surely she'll bring some balance to this talk about riots, arson, looting and the lack of God in the protesters' (my word) lives." (Yes, I profiled her perspective based solely on her complexion.)

But no.

The minister, originally from Kenya, described a harrowing experience back home in which white folks shot at her husband while he and she were in their car, and threatened to cut off her hands! The minister related how she called to Jesus in her mind, and felt supreme confidence that Christ was not going to allow these men to harm her and her husband any further, and they did not! ..... And, she declared, it's this kind of faith and confidence that all of us should embrace.

For one, oh my gosh! What a horrific experience to have suffered! I cannot imagine the terror she must have felt.

But: George Lloyd called out for heavenly intervention, and the police murdered him anyway.

What is it the minister from Kenya - and the other Meade clergy - want African-Americans to do?

Be quiet, keep their heads down, pray?

Maybe the message is for African-Americans to do nothing. Maybe the message is that age-old one that colonizers and oppressors and their compliant missionaries disseminated to the oppressed: Accept your lot and get your reward in heaven.

I puzzled over this during the event, and afterward, and again when I arrived at my friend, Kate's, house in Missouri, who is a faithful follower of Christ, and who also protests in the streets, alone and with others. She is not a quiet Christian. Kate couldn't decipher the code either.


There was only one time when any of the ministers used the word justice.

One time.


Meanwhile, the ants on a tree went about their usual business.

Ants at Meade City Park. June 2020.

Arizona: Globe

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

I began my exploration of State Highway 77, which extends from Tucson (as Oracle Road) up past Holbrook to the edge of Navajo Nation. I made a modest plan for the day with the town of Globe as my destination.

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

Besh-Ba-Gowah

I spent the largest chunk of my Globe time at the ancient Salado community called Besh-Ba-Gowah, which is what the Apache called Globe in the 1800s: "Town of Metal," in recognition of its mining industry.

I'm not all that much into ancient ruins, preferring more modern-day ruins. But the Besh-Ba-Gowah site is accessible to most folks and is very much part of a living town. 

It's so much a part of a living town that it literally butts against an athletic field. At first, I found this slightly unsettling, as in: Hey, you're messing with my head-in-the-past vibe, but after that initial reaction, I did a 180, finding that I very much appreciated how two epochs sat side-by-side. 

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

 Oooh, but watch out for the ants there! The place teemed with them.

Ants at Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

Two barrel cacti hosted a drunken party of ginger arthropods. Birds squeaked overhead, but in the video below, you can imagine the chirruping coming from the ants:

There's a good reason there are so many ants on the barrel cactus. From an article here:

The barrel cactus is an important partner for lots of desert species. Not only does the plant receive pollination from insects and seed dispersal from vertebrates, but it also hires ants to defend it against insect herbivores. It does this by producing sugary nectar that the ants can feed on.


A couple of bees tussled briefly over nectar in this video:

The Besh-Ba-Gowah museum had real pottery shards to smooth one's fingerpads over. It felt special to touch the same surfaces held by our first Americans so many centuries ago. A way to hold the hands of our antecedents.

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

The differences among preservation, conservation, restoration, renovation, and reconstruction interest me. This sign presents a quickie explanation of stabilization and reconstruction:

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

A plethora of lizards, of course. This lithe one tucked himself behind a stone face, but hey little dude, I could still see your curled tail!

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

A garden is adjacent to the ruins and museum; there is also a lower botanical garden, which is a ribbon along a path.

Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

Overall, I received many utils of pleasure in return for the investment of a four-hour round trip drive. There's a tight little museum with artifacts gleaned from the site, a video that's not too long and not too short, pleasant museum staff, an interesting and accessible ruin site itself, and two gardens to stroll.


Holy Angels Catholic Church

Pretty.

My favorite stained glass window: the holy flautist, as she reminded me of a Celtic flautist friend.

Holy Angels Catholic Church, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

One discordant note, however. I get that pews and statuary and windows often have the names of the donors inscribed on same. But it discomfits me for the Christ over the altar to also have the donor's name. It makes me think of a sports stadium that has no sense of place at all, but only the name of a corporation.

Holy Angels Catholic Church, Globe, Arizona. August 2019.

This Mass brought to you by .....



A slide show of Arizona State Highway 77 below (inclusive of Globe):

Big Bend National Park: The Ant and the Grasshopper PG-13

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Aesop's Fables. Credit: Milo Winter. Source: Library of Congress.

Yes, well.

There's Aesop's version of the ants and the grasshopper, and then there's Big Bend National Park's version.

While visiting the camp store next to the Chisos Visitor Center, I walk by a dead grasshopper.

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

Something about it catches my eye. Ooh, those yellow sac-like things. Ooh, there's movement; what's that? Ahh, a red, translucent ant is excavating within and without the carcass. I need a closer look.

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

What are those yellow things? Grasshopper guts? Eggs? The grasshopper has a metallic sheen.

A short film:

I still don't know what those yellow ovoid sacs are. Maybe spiricles? Britannica offers an image of these below:

Grasshopper spiricles. Credit: Britannica.

A final look at the remains of the Big Bend grasshopper:

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

El Paso: Back in the Kingdom of Ants

Downtown El Paso Farmers Market. September 2016.

September 2016.


I went to El Paso's downtown Farmers' Market for the first time the other day.

Saw a thing or two.

The experience with the most lasting impression was an encounter with two insignificant, pissanty ants. The little fuckers.  They bit me. Vicious creatures.

But this here part of the world is the kingdom of ants. As told about:

Here.

Here.

Here.

And here.

Antigua, Guatemala: Ant Season is Coming

I occasionally notice a medium-sized, black ant crawling over my bed. Like just now. And, I wonder: Could this be the edible ant beloved by Antigueños, which will come into high season in May? AKA "Mayan caviar"? ....

Hmm, based on this article, no, not the same ant:

Source: wikipedia commons

Puts me in mind of my ant experiences in New Mexico:

Alamogordo: Ants! Them!
Alamogordo: Ants II
Las Cruces, New Mexico: Arthropod Museum
New Mexico: Invaded by Ants

New Mexico: Invaded by Ants

Prelude

When I moved to Alamogordo last September, I noted the superhighway of tiny red ants marching incessantly in an organized, two-way swath on the sidewalk in front of my apartment.


Diplomatic policy

I've kept my eye on them throughout the year, but my insect policy is: You don't bother me and I won't bother you. And. Stay out of my house.

They didn't come to my house and I left them alone.

But last Thursday, I noticed a tiny red ant in my bathroom. Hm, I thought. A few hours later, I saw another tiny red ant in my bathroom. Hmmmmm, I thought.


Unprovoked invasion

On Friday morning, I went into my kitchen and discovered I'd been invaded overnight by tiny red ants. They were all over the place, "place" being my kitchen counter.

What happened to our deal, you tiny red ants? You, you scoundrels!


Treatment

Yes, I annoyed the ants with vinegar and Lysol (and someone later suggested cut cucumbers would drive them away), but both were only stopgaps until the exterminator arrived.

I was impressed with the exterminator's judicious application of his fluid weapons. I also liked when he said he leaves a certain kind of spider (I forget the name), vinegaroons, and geckos alone - as they eat other insects.

It turned out that many people have called him recently and it's because of the rain. The rain pushes some of the insects inside. He's had an uptick in calls related to ants and scorpions.

And big surprise: He said the ants in my house might not be the ants out on the sidewalk. A different kind of tiny red ant.  

That was an interesting revelation and it reminded me of this story:


Watch out for superficial affinities

In Georgia, my cultural interpretor and hostess, Neli, told me that back in the day, when Georgia was at risk from yet another invasion from one force or another, they had a choice: ally with the Russians or the Azerbaijani?

The Georgians chose the Russians because they shared Orthodox Christianity, whereas the Azerbaijani were mostly Muslim. The Georgians thought this affinity with the Russians predicted a good alliance. Of course, they were wrong, and Russia later turned on them. A good lesson: Sometimes we have more interests in common with groups that we think are very different from us, than with groups we think are like us.

So these ants that invaded me might not have been my guys out on the sidewalk after all. Mea culpa.

New Mexico: Insect Life

This morning, I was startled to see a medium-large roach on the kitchen floor, on its back, apparently dead.

After gazing upon its inert body for awhile, feeling relieved that it was dead, I got around to wondering how it got onto its back and how it became dead.

Which made me wonder if there was an even larger insect in my apartment that killed this fairly-large roach. This is unsettling.

Spring is here in New Mexico. I'm not sure what all to expect in the way of insects. For example, when will the tarantulas come out?

The little red ants are back in business on my front walk.

Alamogordo: Ants! Them!

Little red ants

From the first day I moved in, I noted a steady, busy river of tiny red ants flowing in a long line down the sidewalk in front of my stoop.

Last week, curiosity led me to try and follow the line to the end, with ambiguous results.

Today, I followed the westbound line, starting from my stoop, for 65 steps. Then I followed the eastbound line from my stoop, and literally around the corner, for about 33 steps, as you can see in the video below.

Tiny red ants.

When I did some online research, I discovered .....

Oh. Shit.

They might be fire ants. The scourge of the south.

Busy little bastards.

I guess as long as they leave me alone, I won't worry about them.


Radioactive Alamogordo ants


It was 1954. 

A little girl from Alamogordo, found wandering zombie-like in the desert .....

In shock. From what?

Ants. Made giant from the atomic bomb testing. Them!

When I was deciding whether to come to New Mexico or Mexico, ants did not figure into my calculations.


Update 24 Oct 2012: While reading this article, I was led to this blog, and then to this site: Ant Blog. Enjoy.