ONE STOMP AT A TIME

I just finished making lunch and handed my husband Steven a plate with a turkey and swiss sandwich on it. I gave my son Alex his plate and grabbed mine as we all headed into the dining room.

Once we were seated I looked over at Steven and proudly announced, “I stomped on a spotted lanternfly today while Alex and I were on a walk!”

Steven looked surprised. “You saw one?” He opened the jar of pickles, took one and handed me the jar.

I nodded as I put the pickle on my plate and passed the jar to Alex. “First one I’ve ever seen.”

Alex looked over at me. “I couldn’t believe you knew what it was.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I put my napkin on my lap. “Me either.” I looked back at Steven. “We were walking at the park when I looked down and saw this strange looking bug.” I looked over at Alex. “It was pretty big, wasn’t it?”

Alex nodded. “It was a big bug.” he agreed.

“Anyway, I thought it was a spotted lanternfly so I tried to stomp on it but it leap away.”

“Wait.” Alex sounded confused. “You thought it was a spotted lanternfly?”

“Well, I knew for sure it was one when it did its leap and I could see the red part on its inner wings.”

“So you were ready to stomp on a bug before you knew for sure?” Steven asked.

“But I missed.” I argued. “So it doesn’t count.” I reached over for the bag of potato chips and poured some on my plate. “Anyway once I was sure I stomped away.”

“Are you sure that’s what you’re suppose to do?” Alex asked as I handed him the bag.

“Yup.” I nodded my head. “I even called the park when I got home to let them know I saw one there.”

“What did they say?”

“That there’s been a few sightings but they’re such an invasive bug that they’re asking people to step on them when they do see them.” I looked over at Alex. “So I did my part for nature today.” I smiled as I took a bite from my chip.

“Exactly what is it that they’re eating?” Steven asked taking a slice of tomato from the plate to put on his sandwich.

“Well, they say they’re doing a lot of damage to different trees and crops.”

I looked over at Alex. “I know it seems a little counter-intutive to be out on a nature walk and then stomp on a bug.” I sighed.

“Well, if they’re damaging crops…” Alex said.

“Hey, when I heard one of the things they were going after was grapevines that was all I needed to know.” I looked back over at Alex. “I know when you hear grapevines you’re thinking of jelly.” I pointed my thumb to my chest. “But when I hear grapevines I immediately think about the wine industry and no bug is going to mess with that!”

Steven started to laugh. “Exactly.”

Alex just shook his head as I picked up my sandwich.

“Nope.” I was shaking my head, too. “Nobody is messing with that.”