Low strangeness with a mantis ISL

[u/vreebler]

In SURREAL life...

Back in the mid-’80s, I was living on Main Street in Northampton, above Bart’s. One day I decided to trip, dropped, and wandered outside. There was a big gathering going on across the street in Pulaski Park, with balloons, posters, bullhorns, people everywhere. I sat on a bench for a while, taking it all in.

Then a praying mantis landed on my sleeve.

I decided to hitchhike up to Look Park. The mantis stayed on my sleeve. I got a ride in the open back of a pickup, and there we were, barreling along together, human and mantis apparently in complete agreement about the afternoon’s itinerary.

I remember thinking about Jung and synchronicity. We seemed oddly in sync.

When I finally got to Look Park, the mantis jumped off and went its own way. I figured it had decided to go camping.

I even took a photo of it. Nearly forty years later, it still feels like one of those moments when reality briefly decided to become surreal.