Early in the morning, after the family had breakfast, they rode in a carriage into the city.
Along the way, one could still see the traces of the pest infestation. Many trees had their leaves gnawed away, not even sparing the freshly sprouted buds.
Some newly hatched caterpillars clung to the damaged leaf tips like vampires, sucking the sap from the branches.
Ordinarily, apart from cattle and sheep that might graze on them, the ground's weeds were rarely nibbled by insects.
This year, however, they too suffered greatly.
Not only were the leaves eaten by locusts, leaf insects, and other pests, but even the roots were mostly consumed by pests like mole crickets. This led to the complete death of many weeds.
It is known that weeds are extremely resilient plants; wild fires can't even burn them to death.
Just as long as spring arrives, their splendor remains unchanged.
