BUTTERFLY EFFECT
As he ages, Norman needs increasing purpose to his rides
For thirty years, my wife and I have had an interest in butterflies. They’re beautiful creatures with a complicated life cycle, and find themselves a marker of global warming. This is seen by the fact that certain species of butterflies, once found only at low heights, are now moving both north and to higher elevations as the earth warms.
My own interest stems from the fact that butterflies are also markers of biological diversity and the health of the environment. Let me give you a couple of examples. There is a strong relationship between ants and butterflies. This relationship is hardly ever discussed when biological diversity and health is mentioned. Who cares about a few tiny ants?
There is a butterfly called a Heath Fritillary. This butterfly lays its eggs on common cow-wheat, which thrive when they are near oak trees, deriving mineral nutrients from oak roots. The seeds of these plants are distributed by wood ants and it is the ants that ensure both the survival of the plant and the butterflies.
My favourite story about ants and butterflies is the reason for my bike ride today. I’m off to try and spot the Adonis Blue butterfly that lives on the North Downs near Dorking. The butterfly lays eggs on the horseshoe vetch plant. The caterpillars hatch in late April and are then taken up by ants, which are attracted by secretions from the caterpillar. The caterpillar is taken into the ant nest where for three weeks the caterpillar is protected from predators. The secretions cause the ants to nurture the caterpillar as one of their own. Eventually the caterpillar emerges and life continues. These actions are carried out by only one species of ant. In today’s world that is not a good position for the Adonis Blue to find itself in.
We can learn lessons from these butterfly life cycles. Our understanding of the natural world is rather pathetic where smaller species, integral to a healthy environment, are concerned. Not least ants and their role in the natural environment: nearly all my neighbours go around killing them with pesticides.
The cycle ride to visit the Adonis Blue goes virtually due west from my house. The sun is shining so this fairweather cyclist is happy. I have not been this way for about three years, and I had forgotten that my due west route to Dorking goes through mainly built-up suburbia. Motorists and me compete for the same space, which isn’t the case with rides south and east of me, where I head into Kent with its myriad of small lanes.
I bring all this up because a couple of days ago I was perusing a scientific paper on the relationship between age, the mind and physical abilities. As I have stressed many times ageing is an integrated event affecting every part of the body, so we should not be surprised that there is an interaction between mind and body. Those of us over fifty know the tricks the mind plays with remembering names, where the car keys are and going to shops and forgetting to purchase one of the items we set out to buy.
This paper stated that when 578 men and women were examined by various physical tests it was found that those who demonstrated poor physical performance were at greater risk of dementia than those who were physically up to scratch. That’s another sound reason to keep physically active as long as you possibly can.
There is another aspect of mind-body interaction that I would like to discuss. I find that now, aged 87, I am unwilling to cycle anywhere that does not give me enjoyment while I’m on my way to my destination. Obviously, I have seen the butterfly many times before, so should I keep on cycling through this aesthetic wasteland so that I can once again admire an Adonis Blue? A decade ago such thoughts would not have entered my head. I would have tolerated the cars and pollution to get to my goal. So what did I do? Apologies to the butterly but I turned around and headed instead for the cafe that serves my favourite lemon drizzle cakes. As I age I find my tolerance for those aspects of life that do not give me enjoyment has fallen off a cliff. That’s an example, not yet in the scientific literature, of a mental process determining where and when I should spend physical energy. I must look for a more enjoyable route and not venture onto nervous roads that are more likely to give me butterflies in the stomach than have them fluttering around my head.