The black insect jumping on the floor drew the cats’ attention. A cricket had gotten in.
I have strong feelings about bugs. Ants? Stomp! Flies? Swat! Spiders? Squish! But Crickets? Catch and release.
I guess I just like crickets.
Crickets have a literary past, and, strangely, in the stories they are always good. Dickens tells of The Cricket on the Hearth that acts as the family’s guardian angel. Jiminy Cricket was Pinocchio’s conscience, and Cri-kee, in Mulan, was a symbol of luck. The Cricket in Times Square, written by George Selden, was inspired by the chirp of a cricket heard from the subway.
Crickets also have their place in society. They are kept as pets in Asian countries where their chirping is considered beautiful and soothing. It is said that they are also something of a burglar alarm, stopping their chirp when a stranger enters the room. Pretty smart, for a bug.
The phrase, “crickets,” or “hearing crickets,” means silence. But to me, the sound of crickets in a summer’s evening is relaxing and peaceful. And I must not be alone: many white noise/sleep machines include the option of “Summer Night,” which is basically, yep, crickets.
A lot of people must like crickets.
Anyway, armed with a clear plastic cup and a sheet of paper, I set forth to rescue our guest. The trick was to anticipate which direction he might jump and be ready. I finally got the cup over him, in the process pinning one of his feet to the floor. I picked the cup up to free him, then, sliding the paper under the inverted cup, I lifted the trap. It immediately fell apart and released the captive. Hunter was intrigued. This was a great game!
Once more, with greater care, I secured the cricket and carefully took him outside to freedom.
An hour later I was recalled to the living room: there was another cricket. Based on my recent experience, I was able to corral this one quickly, releasing it out the door.
I went to bed that night feeling very virtuous, thinking of two crickets who now had an adventure story to tell their friends.
Those two crickets, at least, are lucky.
“When the cricket’s song is the only sound you hear,
how peaceful the whole earth seems.”
Marty Rubin