A Bug's Life

I am burning the candle at both ends. Brightly. The trouble is that there are not enough hours in the day. Ideally I would stay up until 2am mothing every night, have a tranquil eight hours sleep, and then awaken at 4:30am to close the moth trap and then go out birding on Wanstead Flats until 7am. You see the problem? Precisely. How can I fit eight hours into two; when exactly am I supposed to sleep?

Well yes, I could sleep during the day, being a bum and all that, but what about the children? I've tried, and it doesn't work. And anyway, my life of leisure domestic slavery may soon be at an end. I am thinking about getting a job. Not sure what yet, but I have started browsing various vacancy sites and have even gone as far as looking at some application forms. I have not put pen to paper of course, that would be a step too far, but I am thinking about it which is half the battle. I have to say that I am disappointed at how pitifully paid most jobs are. Much as I loathed banking, the money was fantastic. I have been looking at jobs in the environmental sector, of which I have zero experience, but even if somebody ignored that glaring omission and actually hired me, the pay is beyond dire. I am perhaps willing to sacrifice cash for quality of life, but if I do go back to work full time, whatever I earn will need to cover various forms of childcare, for few jobs fit into the school day. Apart from teaching, obviously. Childcare is not cheap, and I have lots of children. Much to think about....



Whilst generally avoiding thinking about it, I have been observing bug life on Wanstead Flats. Mrs L threw me out the other evening so that she could do music practice, and so I had a wander around the SSSI part. It is teeming with life at the micro level. Small and Essex Skippers patrol the grasslands, scattering as you brush past. The caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth (of which I have caught only one thus far) are feeding on just about any Common Ragwort you can find, and there has been an explosion of Common Red Soldier Beetles. I could become seriously interested in small things. If I had my time again, I reckon I might have done something along those lines. I am finding however that a degree in French, even a very good one, has no place on ecological application forms. Bummer, as they say.