No name

Yesterday, in the numbing heat, I stood on a bridge that straddled a section of the River Hogsmill, close to Ewell. The water running beneath, not 12 feet wide and but a few inches deep, was choked on either bank by majestic stands of Himalayan Balsam, in full flower. I leant on the rail, looking down onto the tops of the Balsam, which were being visited by bees. Many bees. They busied themselves, as bees do, by climbing inside the elongated throats of the blooms, and after finishing whatever they were doing, backing out before investigating another flower. There were several species before me, some fat, furry, good old-fashioned ‘bumbles’, many narrower bodied Honey Bee types, one with a hoary frosted body, another with a long and pointed abdomen - as to their specific identities, I hadn’t a clue. I didn’t feel the need to know. Watching them for maybe 15 minutes was relaxing. Not trying to photograph them, or net them, or pot them was an additional pleasure. My binoculars and camera remained in my rucksack. It was an altogether different way of observing nature from my usual manic attempt to catalogue everything. The heat and Mediterranean-style relaxation default setting may have been responsible for my indifference, but there is a sea-change coming. I feel it. I know it.

Back and forward the bees continued. Soporific in the hot air, drowsy buzzing, hurrying without panic. Time could wait for me, even if time was of the essence for them in getting their job done. And they had done a job on me too. “Just watch us. Why do you need to know our names?” They had a point.

Why do some of us want to give everything a name? Does it allow us to consider that we ‘own’ the creature once we have catalogued it? A more sedate form of the ‘hunter-gatherer’ relationship? To put them in a box marked ‘done’ and then move on to the next that we need to identify? Similar thoughts have crowded my mind many times. They normal manifest themselves after periods of attempting to tackle new groups or bio-blitz an area. It is as if any attempt to over-reach myself triggers an inner alarm system - “Stop! This is becoming mechanical!” And that inner voice has a point. Increasingly so.

A sea of grass in the breeze. A jewelled beetle walking across a path. Distant flocks of thrushes punching through low autumn cloud. Stygian woodland floors carpeted in moss. Cloud formations that make you stare and try and make out recognisable shapes. A star-splattered night sky that frightens you with awe. All arresting, all memorable and yet the component parts do not have a specific name. In fact the component parts are not thought of as separate entities at all, they merge into the one. Does not knowing the names of the grasses that are dancing in the wind diminish the visual impact? Or what constellations are above us in the night sky? No, not one bit.

All without a name. And not diminished, but enhanced through feeling and emotion.

Comments

Derek Faulkner said…
I loved the theme of this posting, just enjoying being out in the countryside should be enough most of the time, what does it matter if a bee is a bee or a bird is simply a bird.
Unfortunately some people can't even settle for knowing the names of things and so they re-name them. Off the top of my head - Wheatear - now Northern Wheatear, Knot - now Red Knot, Heron - now Grey Heron.
martinf said…
A beautiful written musing.
Jewelled beetle or Jewel Beetle. I gotta know! ;)
Steve Chastell said…
I can’t argue against that being a fine way to spend some time. Trying to identify everything can be tedious and stressful (full moth traps sometimes fill me with as much trepidation as excitement) and such a break is sometimes exactly what you need.

However...to protect things, given the way the modern world works, needs hard data and that requires them being identified (and the data being made available). And surely we all want to contribute to protecting such precious things if we can.

And from another perspective I’m pretty confident that after a while you would be overcome with curiosity as to what they are and want to understand more about them, the first step of which is knowing what they are. After all that’s pretty much where we all started.
Gibster said…
Yeah yeah, never mind that ol' "I'm not fussed" malarkey. Word on the street is that Dark Crimson Underwing is currently being found "by the dozen" in Wimbledon. Not to light but to sugar. Get those Banstead fenceposts daubed in the sweet stuff and inspect regularly, looking forward to seeing the pics! :)
Steve Gale said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve Gale said…
Thanks for the comment chaps. We all approach this interest of ours from different perspectives and react in differing ways. And that’s good.

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