As I drove down the smooth road with trees lined up on both sides, I lowered my car window to breath in some fresh air. All of a sudden, a green locust charged and landed on my window. Distracted, I looked at it and it stared back with its beady eyes. Like this:
Creepy right? I was caught between raising my window so it gets squished or tapping the window to make it fly away.
Eleven years ago, as I was resting comfortably in my bed, a seven inched green grasshopper burst in and flapped in circles, reminiscent of Peter pan. My husband caught it and whispered something to it before he sent it out of the window. Perplexed, I inquired why he didn’t squish it. Jokingly, I asked whether he considered these locusts as food or something sacred. He said, in the Ifugao custom, these insects could be reincarnated beings or sent by the Creator to deliver messages. Well, he admitted that grasshoppers are jumping delicacies across tufts of grass that sometimes farmers eat these things raw.
Fast forward, the natural diet of these creepy crawlies include grass and leaves. In fact, I must admit we have the same diet. Almost. Over the years, I gained pounds and a lot of inches on the waist which became unhealthy that the the doctors recommended I change my diet. I am now a Pesco-vegetarian. “Pesco” is actually the Latin word for fish. Considering that these greens do not fully satisfy me, I included macadamia, walnuts and almonds as extenders. I’m so good with eating fish and veggies; even if I run out of nuts, I will never eat a grasshopper.
So, back to the grasshopper in my car window, instead of squishing or delivering a prayer before sending it away, I merely tapped on the pane. Away it flew.
maguinolbay 