Essay

Of bugs, buzzards and bats

By John Gathright

Lately, with the cold wind and the snow outside, we find ourselves huddled around the log stove in the evenings. Not only is it warm but it's a perfect opportunity for heartfelt discussions. It's one of these evenings that I'd like to write about this week - an evening that found our family at a rare low.

Our boys started elementary school last September. Until then, they had been going to an international school but now they are at a Japanese school. They are having a hard time making friends. My eldest son is targeted by bullies. As a family, we are working to make life easier for them, but it can get pretty depressing sometimes. This is what we were thinking about that one night when a bug crawled groggily out of the firewood basket in our living room.

As we watched, we were amazed to find that the dead tree from which I'd made the firewood was actually home to all sorts of bugs, woken up by the warmth of the fire. They were little stowaways from the cold, and it was amazing to see how each bug reacted differently to their new environment. Some played dead, some darted back into the wood, some ignored us completely and wandered toward the window or the door, and others looked as though they would try and attack us. We were enthralled.

There was a lot to be learned from watching those bugs, who like our sons had suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar and threatening surroundings. As we talked about school, we found ourselves talking about other animals and how they deal with problems too.

Did you know that if you put a buzzard in a small pen about two-meters-square, which is open at the top, it won't try to escape, even though a short hop and a jump would be enough to take it to freedom? This is because in its natural environment, the buzzard always begins flight with a run of about 2.5 to 3 meters.

If a bumblebee is dropped into an open jar, it will not bother to look up and try and fly away, but it will hover near the bottom, trying to find an escape through the glass until it dies.

I can't help but think of how many of us are like buzzards or bumblebees. When we are faced with problems or feel trapped or depressed, how many of us can't see the freedom above us, but continue doing what we do without deviation, which gradually leads to our ruin.

Now, look at the bat. bats are remarkable fliers but they cannot take off from a level surface. Put a bat on the ground and it will shuffle around painfully until it can find something to climb onto so that it can jump into flight. But what's remarkable about bats is that though they aren't good climbers, their desire to climb up and off to freedom will enable them to escape.

Our family has been giving out school problems great thought and we feel positive that we will find our way out. We aren't going to play dead, we aren't going to retreat, we aren't going to ignore the situation, we aren't going to launch an offensive. We may have to shuffle around to find a solution, and the process may be painful and slow, but we will find something. I'm sure of it.

Shukan ST: Feb. 10, 2006

(C) All rights reserved