A Boy and His Pet Bug

by Donna Swagerty Shreve

The long hot days of summer in Stockton can be dreary and a young child has to be creative to be entertained. My mother emphasized that a person who was bored lacked imagination. We also knew that if we complained about boredom she would fill up our time with chores. We were never admittedly bored. In the 1950s we had to be creative as television was only allowed for a very limited time at night. The swimming pool at the end of the street had not been installed yet. We had to get creative to enjoy our long summer break from school with sprinkler games and other groups games with the neighbor’s children.

Our dining room had big picture windows that looked out onto our side covered patio. Along the edge of the patio was a flower border and various chairs were available for seating. A barbecue was set up in one corner and frequently used. The pavers made the floor interesting if a bit uneven. The roof was an open pattern of 2 by 4 boards in parallel pattern that offered partial shade. Off the dining room was the kitchen where Mom seemed to spend a good portion of her day.

Mom happened to see her youngest child, Grant, behaving rather oddly one afternoon. He had a clear plastic bag that he had posed over one of the plants in the flower border. He was very still holding the bag just so over the plant. Mom came closer to the window to figure out this mystery. Soon she realized what Grant was doing. 

Along the side of the house right behind the gate, where the two garbage cans that were regularly filled by a family of six. That was the day when the garbage men opened your side gate and picked up your garbage cans and took them out to the waiting garbage trucks. When it was not garbage day, the cans were quite popular with numerous flies. By placing the garbage cans up near the side gate the family avoided the main surge of the pesky flies.

Mom found out later that Grant had used our set of encyclopedias to research the preying mantis. He had discovered the interesting creature posed on one of the plants on the patio flower border. He came up with a plan to make his new found bug very happy. Grant would take his plastic bag and hold it over the garbage cans. When he had a good supply of flies, he took that closed bag over to the waiting preying mantis and provided dinner by opening the bag over the waiting hungry insect.

This routine became a daily occurrence with Grant never missing a day. Grant began this activity in June and by August our patio preying mantis was quite large and happy. Grant never tried to capture the guy but the preying mantis was always waiting for him on the same plant anticipating his dinner. It was solely Grant’s activity but it ended up entertaining the entire family. To this day I have special affection for any preying mantis I happen to see out in nature. There are so many ways we can entertain ourselves if just given the opportunity.

550 words

9/19/2024

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