MERCY

If I am ever caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, just being alive and not bothering anyone, I hope I am greeted with some kind of mercy.

by Rudyard Francisco

It has been two days now that the weather in our town is dull. The clouds form in one black stretch and the wind now shivers itself. Albeit, nature is still green and the aroma of our home’s environment smells like one in a bright, sunny day. I am on school break during these two days of unusual weather, and all I could do in the house is reach my feet outside and spend time with my family and our new “tenants.” But the question is, we don’t own a rental space nor opened a business. So why and how did we have tenants?

It is of great mystery and question now for you, and I’m sure it would lead to different guesses. Gladly, I don’t want my readers hanging in unanswered thoughts only the writer could tell, so I am sharing who they are with you in this blog and letting me share something about them.

Hello dearest, welcome, this is Mercy.

Often, I spend cold, gloomy days with some hot milk and a movie inside my bedroom and not go out until a warm sensation from sunlight touches me. But yesterday, the usual is not what happened; rather, I spent it outside with my family, the kids, and our new tenant I am now monitoring.

So who is our new tenant?

This little guy here is our new tenant and yes, they reside in a lemon tree right outside our house. I often feel happy seeing caterpillars in our place, for I have always loved butterflies in their entirety, and we know before they flap their wings, they were once little caterpillars chewing a green leaf on a rainy day. It may sound weird that this creature feels special to me, but it just is—I just love nature and no one can change my mind.

From my research, this little guy is called Papilio demoleus, also known as the Lime Butterfly. I was very curious where it derived its name “Lime,” since it is a sister species of lemon, I think, where I saw this creature. I did my thorough research and discovered they love citrus plants, as caterpillars and as butterflies, like our lemon plant, which is why we often spot them here in our lemon gardens. Farmers consider them a serious pest, which, of course, is understandable. But for me, who is happy to have our leaf get ripped by someone just living, I just let it do its thing because mercy costs no penny.

No one asked me in the house to kill it nor told me to put it in another place. But while spending time with it and taking photos while it lay on the leaf, I remembered my most favorite poem before the Two-Headed Calf, titled Mercy, written by Rudyard Francisco. It completely changed my perspective about insects, and instead of getting startled whenever I see one, I adore them now and sometimes pity them for living in a world where human activities destroy their habitat.

This is where they live. I have learned that this caterpillar is one of the most interesting butterflies across Asia because of its physical features. It can be easily recognized because it has no long tail extensions on its hindwings. One of the fascinating things about this guy is that it can mimic bird droppings. When grown older, it has this physical mimicry of green snakes. If you look closer, they have some scary eyes that are enough to scare predators.

I tried touching it and it released a smelly orange forked organ, and I was startled, to be honest. But I had to explore it because I am curious. The organ is called an osmeterium, used for defense tricks, and I was tried by that guy.

If you noticed, I said “tenants,” because there were actually two of them. I thought it was just one, but when I looked at another leaf, I saw this guy peacefully chewing. I didn’t see it earlier because it camouflaged perfectly on the leaf and a naked eye can’t see it right away.

They are so cute, and I am hoping I can witness their transformation until they have their wings. Today, they are still here in the lemon plant, and I think they will be staying for a longer time than I expected.

I just told my family not to cut the plant or disturb it so that the caterpillars will have a smooth transformation process.

It was early in the morning when I saw them, and I was in the mood to take photos of some natural things outside the house.

I saw this common flower I often see anywhere in the town, but even if it is common, I still adore it. It is part of my childhood years when we often made it into flower crowns, and with it I made good childhood memories as well as good friends.

I also took photos of the trees and grasses outside. These things may look common, but I found time to appreciate them in a different way. I am happy to realize I get to live with these things every night and day, and whenever it is so hot, they make the wind better, and sometimes I would write articles under these trees to make sure I am in attention with the environment and my ideas.

A little while later, my family went out also because they were bored listening nonstop to Demon Hunter’s song, which is my niece’s favorite and she wants to play it every day.

This is my niece, and she is carrying her birthday balloon with her because the day before yesterday we had a DIY photoshoot for her birthday, and we used that balloon as a prop. I will be sharing the photos soon here in Hive, and I hope I’ll receive some suggestions as to how to improve the photos since I am still in training.

My mother with my brother’s second baby. It has been a long time since I saw them smiling while I also cherish the moments. Times like this feel surreal and remind me of the reasons why I am living and continue chasing my dreams.

Some photos I took while they were having fun.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, dearest reader.