As the summer rainy season runs through the month of August, nature brings on a period of growing decay.

It’s the time when garden plantings are susceptible to caterpillars that chomp on leaves prior to spinning their cocoons, other destructive insects, fungi and varied kinds of plagues.

In my own backyard I’ve watched my basil plants whither and other prized kitchen herbs deteriorate from optimum condition. The leaves of multi-colored geraniums that brighten flower beds are turning yellow and drying up, requiring constant plucking to maintain some degree of luster.

A more disturbing seasonal phenomenon has been the sudden appearance of baby black widow spiders discovered recently while undertaking clean-ups of outdoor terraces and the laundry patio. As much as I abhor the idea of killing critters belonging in our ecosystem, I didn’t hesitate to pull out a can of mortal bug spray to obliterate the venomous arachnids from existence.

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