The Lantern Files Part 4

So on my walk, I follow a pathway by the river.  I start on the northern end going south.  There are gates on both ends.  It is about a mile and a half from end to end.  The walkway is beside three communities, and each has a pool area.  The third pool area is where most of the lanternflies hang out.  There is actually some space there as the path is turning from south to southwest direction.  When I get to the other end, I turn around and head back.  So there's kind of two phases to my walk, the forward and backward.

At this point, I had decided that it was ridiculous walking around with one shoe on and one off for smashing.  So before I left the house, I looked around for what I could use.  We did have extra slippers around.  We even had unmatched and mismatched ones that would have been perfect for smashing.  But I decided I didn't want to walk around holding a slipper either.  So the only thing I could find was a pair of new wooden chopsticks, the kind that Chinese restaurants give away for free.  They were still stuck together and wrapped in thin paper.  I grabbed one of them and put them in my pocket.  They turned out to be a pretty good tool and I killed a whole bunch using them.

There are gates by the community side of the fence, where residents come in and out of the walkway.  So on my way forward, after I passed the pool heading towards the southern gate, this older gentleman comes into the walkway through one of those gates, walking his dog.  I'm sure he must have noticed my indirect path, as I would try to spot and smash the little buggers.  But again, I don't know if people notice what exactly I was specifically doing.  He walked past me going towards where I came from as I continued on.

I got to the end as usual and checked my phone for emails, texts or slack.  I can't remember if there was anything pressing I had to attend to.  I put my phone away and headed back.  

Near the gate, where he came in, I saw the older gentleman again.  He must have been in his sixties.  He was Asian.  I assumed he was Filipino, but I wasn't sure and didn't ask.  He was wearing slippers.  As I got near him, he just uttered out, "A lot of them are in the trees."  And then I realized he must have known what I was doing.

He said that he kills them, too, and that he uses his slipper.  I showed him the chopsticks in my hand, and I said, "I just use these; they are pretty good."  He nodded his head in acknowledgement.  We chatted for a few minutes.  He said he used to live in Newport and that the lanternflies killed a bunch of plants in that area.  He said they are getting faster, and I agreed with him.  I told him it's those fast ones that will end up reproducing and they will just continue to get faster.

It was a nice exchange.  It wouldn't have happened if not for those lanternflies.  Typically, I would have been walking fast, working up a sweat and heading back right away to get to work.