0:00

Recalling that your own imagination is

0:03

also a part of nature is

0:06

one way to reconnect with

0:08

the gorgeous wellspring of magic

0:10

that our universe hides in

0:12

plain sight. Welcome

0:15

to the Crypto Naturalist. Good

0:32

evening listeners. The

0:35

sun said a

0:38

few minutes ago, I'm sitting

0:41

on a hay bale

0:52

in a weathered barn, the

0:54

dusty gray of an aged

0:56

elephant. The

0:58

board seemed to have shrunk since they

1:00

were first nailed in place, so

1:03

I can still see the rising moon

1:05

through the cracks. The

1:08

wind is up and its searching

1:11

fingers are finding all those gaps,

1:14

reaching the wind chimes dangling from

1:16

the loft. It

1:19

smells like dust and hay and

1:21

the memory of horses, but

1:25

I'm here because of ghosts. The

1:29

old fellow who owns this barn

1:31

and I have a mutual friend

1:33

who passed on news of a

1:35

haunting. So

1:37

I consulted my library of

1:39

Crypto Naturalist writings and

1:42

found that here in eastern Nebraska

1:44

the time and weather was right

1:46

for ghost flies. See,

1:50

ghost flies are a bit like

1:52

cicadas, living most of

1:54

their lives underground before surfacing for

1:56

the briefest of times. Broods

2:00

follow different timetables, some

2:03

notable populations rising up at the

2:06

end of October, but

2:08

not this spring group here in

2:10

the Cornhusker state. Of

2:13

course, unlike cicadas, ghostflies

2:16

are about the size of a

2:18

pinhead, and when

2:20

they gather in their mating

2:22

swarms they bioluminesce a pale

2:24

blue or green. But

2:28

it's the shape of those glowing

2:30

swarms that earned them their name.

2:33

The ghostflies seem to cling to

2:35

the shape of, well,

2:38

lives that have passed on from the

2:41

world. At least,

2:43

that's the predominant theory. Whether

2:46

they are revealing the presence

2:48

of an actual spectre, or

2:51

following the occurrence of

2:53

some form of place-bound

2:55

memory is unclear. I

2:58

personally say it's unclear if such

3:00

a distinction even matters. What

3:04

does matter is that they

3:06

are a rare and spectacular sight.

3:10

So here I sit, right

3:12

where I'm told light and movement

3:14

has been seen for the last

3:16

few evenings, clutching my

3:18

recorder to my chest and talking

3:21

to you good folks. Ah,

3:24

hold on a sec, my radio is peeping

3:26

at me. I'm

3:28

guessing that's Cassandra with today's hidden

3:30

lower segment. Hi Cassandra,

3:33

I'm here. Go ahead. Chrysalis.

3:39

One day the caterpillar forms a chrysalis.

3:42

Waits a while, becomes a butterfly.

3:46

They told us this much, told us to

3:48

wait for chitin to split for

3:50

the emergence of dazzling colours and

3:52

pumping wings, but they

3:54

never talked about what really happened inside,

3:57

how the caterpillar's whole body dissolved.

4:00

Half the time there is nothing

4:02

but soupy liquid. Butterfly

4:04

goo. Formless but for

4:07

the rigid purse holding it in midair. No

4:10

one told us either that when a caterpillar

4:12

was born, while it grew and

4:14

crawled along, a few cells

4:17

called imaginal already held instructions

4:19

for what to build, when

4:21

it came time for another body. Here,

4:24

the shining eye, the scaled wings.

4:28

Let me remind you of the power of

4:30

sticking around. If

4:32

you feel shapeless and scared, imagine

4:35

yourself in that tiny thin walled

4:37

shell, whistling in the dark. Some

4:41

part of you already knowing the way.

4:45

Roger that. Thanks, Cassandra. What

4:49

a lovely poem. It's

4:51

hard to overstate the importance

4:53

of sticking around. Nature

4:56

contains myriad change and

4:59

potential, but she does

5:01

indeed need time to work. It's

5:04

worth remembering that. It's

5:07

sometimes impossible to know which hardships

5:09

in our lives are part of

5:12

building our own chrysalises, or

5:15

what we're on the way to becoming, eh? Oh,

5:18

hang on a sec. The

5:21

wind just blew open the door. Let's

5:24

see if I can get it latched again. Alright,

5:29

I got it. Ah,

5:33

where were we? Uh,

5:38

maybe more than just the wind came in

5:40

when the door blew open. There's

5:43

a glimmer in the air by

5:45

that old horse stall. Yeah,

5:49

the shape. It's

5:51

the ghost flies, alright. The

5:54

glow was the color of sea last

5:56

night. Pale green. line

6:00

is dust in the air. It's

6:03

condensing into a figure.

6:08

It looks like a man in a

6:10

wide-brammed hat. He's standing

6:12

at the shattered door of

6:14

that broken-down stall, and he's

6:17

raising his hand to stroke the

6:19

face of a horse

6:21

I cannot see. His head's

6:24

tilted, and his jaw

6:27

seems to be moving, like he's

6:29

talking to the invisible animal. Seems

6:33

like he's saying something gentle.

6:38

The tiny flies are bright enough

6:40

that each broken board and discarded

6:43

old farming implement is throwing

6:45

off shadows in the ghost

6:47

light. Ah,

6:49

the swarm, the figure, it's

6:52

turning away and moving

6:55

back to the barn door. I know

6:59

he can't see me, but I

7:01

couldn't help nodding at him as he passed.

7:04

It just seems polite. Ah,

7:09

there goes that door again, and it's

7:11

turning hot.

7:22

Back in darkness, the

7:25

swarm is gone. The

7:27

ghost is gone. I think

7:31

I'll sit here for a spell and catch

7:34

back up with you and the RV. I

7:37

want to gather my thoughts for a

7:40

bit. Hi

7:43

again, listeners. I'm

7:45

back in my regular studio. I've

7:49

been pondering the ghostflies. They

7:52

are, of course, fascinating and

7:54

worthy creatures all on their

7:56

own, But they

7:58

also reflect some assholes. Aspect of

8:00

the World Back to those who observe

8:02

them. They. Are a

8:05

mirror held up to reality? Sometimes.

8:09

Like tonight, That. Mirror

8:11

Shows or somethin. Soft and

8:13

perhaps a bit bitter. sweet.

8:16

The scene from a bygone

8:18

time. Other

8:20

times where. I've

8:23

seen the ghost flaws on

8:25

many occasions. A seem to

8:27

have a knack for encountering them. Yes,

8:31

I've seen them take on human

8:33

shaped before. But. I've

8:36

also seen them in the shape

8:38

of Silas seen. Passenger.

8:41

Pigeons. Caspian

8:43

tigers and Sicilian

8:45

wolves. All species

8:47

that were driven to extinction

8:49

and past hundred years. Of

8:52

ghosts last warms or a kind of

8:55

mirror. It's fair to

8:57

say that The Reflection is not

8:59

always a pleasant site. Good.

9:02

And that's the case. The

9:05

mirrors hardly blame. Still,

9:08

Some. Sides and memories are all

9:11

the more vital because they are

9:13

difficult. May. They

9:15

haunt us constructively and teachers

9:17

to do better. Well

9:21

I see a field report light

9:23

flashing here on my tongue so.

9:26

Let's. Take a listen. This

9:29

is Travis Chains. Broadcast.

9:31

And on Crypto

9:33

naturalists frequency eleven-fifty

9:35

eight-or. Once.

9:40

When. I was a key. A

9:42

merge onto a roadside. After a day trip Rockland

9:44

A nearly bumped into an old man sitting there

9:47

on the bone. Marrow was

9:49

soaked, James and money everything. steering own

9:51

pickle jar full a teacher would rather

9:53

in a crowded doomed to be map

9:55

it for the next few weeks. Fill,

9:58

fill me up and. The last

10:01

one question. Do.

10:03

You know who owns his property? Soon. I

10:07

answered with the confidence of a ten

10:09

year old. Nobody owns it. Hits.

10:11

The worst. He

10:13

grinned. Will allow

10:16

says different. says. Our

10:18

and now the words would say they own

10:20

themselves and of where we known as the

10:22

woods was here before the law. Or

10:26

didn't have an answer for they had I was running.

10:28

The kid may at on whether or not I was

10:30

in trouble and it was worth making a run for

10:32

it. I guess he read

10:34

the thought my my expression. Look

10:37

young man he said. I'm.

10:39

Not concerned about it. I

10:42

was relieved with then he said certainly kick

10:44

the bucket ass water in my goods. Just.

10:49

Know. Go north of here. There's.

10:52

A big all stern but dream where

10:54

the creek splits. Stay.

10:56

Away from it. Disturbs

10:59

been there all my life and as never me

11:02

and. Quiet. Rat.

11:05

You. Get me. I

11:07

didn't Yes sir I said. He

11:10

asked me for my word and

11:12

I gave it. Not think much

11:14

about it but rec another away

11:17

day and the conversation. He swapped

11:19

fingertip to the roadside dust and

11:21

test it to my forehead. I.

11:24

Flinched you have you see

11:26

of good day he said.

11:28

And I turned homeward, going as fast as

11:30

I could without spilling my new pet. And.

11:34

Then something unusual

11:36

happened. I

11:38

listen to him. A

11:40

took his advance. I tip my word. I

11:43

didn't mean to, but something about those words

11:45

put a splinter between Mars and threaten the

11:47

sink deeper. You don't even look towards the

11:49

place he born me against. The.

11:52

Ears got own and the memory don't like

11:54

a son faded stand out amongst the did

11:57

lilies I grew up and I began to

11:59

see things and. The words. Are

12:02

the people and didn't I know many

12:04

of you listen to this can relate.

12:07

My interest led me to become

12:09

a crypto naturalist, and my passions

12:11

and prohibitions put me on friendly

12:13

terms with many an odd and

12:15

unsettling site beneath the trees. It's

12:17

ignorance leads to beer. But

12:20

curiosity adds new variables that

12:22

equation. The. Unknown

12:24

is fearful. But.

12:27

It's open up to us. If

12:29

that beer is a wall. Or.

12:32

Gateway. So

12:35

decades after my top of that old

12:37

man I went back to those words

12:40

that nobody else our bet armed with

12:42

new knowledge and experience, a scrabble down

12:44

the hillside to the create smile and

12:46

that the crowd a whole slew chimneys

12:49

built a mud cobbles, I didn't walk

12:51

in the water the way I once

12:53

had a traced along the bank move

12:55

required hope and a glimpse, the main

12:57

door and the stable phantoms of my

13:00

childhood wanderings. A. Bill

13:02

that splintering. It

13:05

was like a shard of crystaline

13:07

nostalgia. digging into my mind, I

13:09

tried to drown the sensation with

13:11

the delusion, mustering curiosity it's and

13:13

had a bit of luck. That.

13:16

Eight he. Somehow.

13:21

I. Knew the exact moment when I had gone

13:23

further north along that create than I ever

13:25

had before. Were. Oppressed.

13:27

Our. Wasn't. Bar.

13:31

Near. Was this dump? Big.

13:34

As a tool shed, a lot

13:36

of was cascading mass and toadstools

13:39

pay. Or as a rat, snakes

13:41

barely. Stopped. I

13:43

didn't mean to stop and

13:45

adjusted. Movement.

13:48

Through my up and they're sitting

13:50

cross legged on top of all

13:52

about rotting wood. was the old

13:55

man admit twenty years earlier? he

13:58

looked much the same Except

14:00

he was naked, but for a mantle

14:03

of curling autumn leaves draped over his

14:05

shoulder. A crown toothy with

14:07

honey locust thorns hovered six inches above

14:09

his lank gray hair. I looked at

14:11

him and I felt the crick of

14:14

my own thoughts swelling with frigid snow

14:16

melt escaping its banks. I smelled loam

14:18

and mildew, soil

14:21

and leaf rot. He

14:24

inclined his head and

14:26

then made a turnaround gesture. Stir

14:29

in the air with one knob knuckled finger. I

14:32

gave an awkward little bow

14:34

and then obeyed. I desperately

14:37

wanted to look back. I

14:41

didn't. Maybe

14:43

nobody owns the woods. Maybe

14:47

the woods own themselves, but it's worth

14:49

remembering that each stretch of trees is

14:51

at least as diverse as people

14:53

and, well, their

14:56

opinions on ownership will

14:59

vary. Travis

15:02

Janes, signing off. Ownership

15:10

is indeed a topic of

15:12

some debate. Personally,

15:14

I think ownership should

15:17

at least come with a

15:19

responsibility to understand and enrich.

15:24

It seems to me that any real

15:26

connection with place should start there. The

15:30

trees, like so many residents

15:32

of woodland communities, are

15:34

great teachers of living in a way

15:37

that makes their world better through their

15:39

presence. Until

15:41

next time, we're all strange

15:44

animals, so act like

15:46

it. Thanks

15:54

to Emily Ligren for today's

15:56

Hidden Lower poem, Chrysalis. The

16:00

Liger and is a poet

16:02

and educator who is published

16:04

poems and several literary journals

16:07

and anthologies and developed dozens

16:09

of publications focused on outdoor

16:11

science education. Or

16:14

first collection of poems what we

16:16

were born for. Was

16:18

selected by the Young People's

16:21

Poet Laureate as the Poetry

16:23

Foundations Monthly Book Bag for

16:25

February. Twenty Twenty two. Emily

16:28

lives in San Raphael, California

16:31

where she wonders about oaks

16:33

and teaches poetry and a

16:35

local classrooms. Find.

16:38

Her online and Emily

16:40

like.com. And

16:42

thanks to less land or some for

16:44

reading today's hidden lower. You. Know

16:47

Leslie as the voice of Cassandra the

16:49

voice of the credits. You

16:52

may not know that Leslie as a

16:54

new horror novel coming this August from

16:56

work. The

16:58

book is titled the And Mothers

17:01

and it's a folk horror mystery

17:03

about a journalist going to a

17:05

small town to investigate a rumor

17:08

about a horse given birth to

17:10

a healthy human baby. Best

17:13

selling author Sarah Gailey said

17:15

The And Mothers is exquisite

17:18

and haunting in equal measure.

17:20

Nauseating, lead, tense and crushingly

17:23

insightful. The. Book represents

17:25

and absolutely vital entry into

17:27

the horror can. I

17:30

had a chance to read an early

17:32

copy and I would have to agree

17:34

with Sarah. For. Preorder

17:36

information: visit Allegedly J.

17:38

anderson.com Preorders for Jared

17:40

J. Anderson's new memoir

17:42

about loving nature and

17:44

struggling with depression are

17:47

now open. Visit

17:49

Jared J. anderson.com for

17:51

more information. Bags.

17:54

Does Steve Shell for voicing

17:56

today's Field Report. Steve.

17:59

is that creator, writer, and

18:02

voice of the narrator on the

18:04

Old Gods of Appalachia podcast. Old

18:07

Gods is entering the homestretch of

18:09

their fourth season and will

18:11

be heading out on tour again this

18:13

summer. To

18:15

find bonus content and a

18:18

variety of strange rewards, support

18:20

our show by visiting patreon.com/crypto

18:22

naturalist. You can also

18:24

help by rating, reviewing, and telling a

18:27

friend. The

18:29

crypto naturalist is written and read

18:31

by Jared K. Anderson. For

18:33

books and poetry collections by Jared K.

18:36

Anderson and Leslie J. Anderson, visit

18:39

crypto naturalist.com/ books.

18:43

You'll find information about submitting your poetry

18:45

or prose for our hidden lore segments

18:47

in the about section of our website

18:50

at crypto naturalist.com. This

18:54

show is produced and edited by Tracy

18:56

Barnett. You can find

18:58

them online anywhere at the othertracy

19:01

or the othertracy.com. Thanks

19:05

to Adam Hurt for the use of

19:08

his song Garfield's Blackberry Blossom from his

19:10

album Insight. For more

19:12

information on Adam's music, performances,

19:14

and teaching, visit

19:16

adamhurt.com. Reminder,

19:20

transcripts of this and every

19:22

episode are available at crypto

19:24

naturalist.com. Stay

19:27

curious. Stay wild.

19:29

Stay weird. Postscript.

19:47

If you see a ghost, treat it

19:49

with the same gentle care with which

19:51

we should approach all natural wonders of

19:54

our world.