THE NIGHT VISITOR

Writer & Photographer- © Habeeb Kayode Yahaya (jaypee-d-poet)

On a Saturday night, around 9-pm, 12^th of April, 2020, the pandemic corona virus outbreak has just clocked more than 100 days. I was busy watching Al-Jazeera’s Inside Story on my airtel TV app with the free 3gb bonus I got after having downloaded and registered on the app (this is not an advert, it is just a fact).

The whole USA alarming and record breaking daily death toll of more than 2000 due to corona virus, topping the list with the total number of deaths and other sad news were all my mind was processing until my young bother, Yunus, stormed into the room as if he had just discovered a heavy sack of 1000 naira notes lying somewhere (I imagine things a lot, and that was what I actually imagined).

I was lying on my bed with my earphones plugged in my ears. There was no light and the source of illumination in my room was a dim light from my second phone’s torchlight. Let me quickly state the obvious. English people do not have a formal expression to describe the incoherent nature of power supply, but in Nigeria, there is this everlasting and pervasive Up-NEPA and Down-NEPA syndrome that keeps dining and wining with us. Clearly, it is a problem of our government, not being able to provide stable power supply across the country since forever despite their consistent and innumerable pledges, so, it is what it is.

knowing the kind of photography freak I am, especially, when it comes to nature, Yunus rushed in and  uttered repeatedly “I have something nice for you, you do not want to miss it”. No doubt, there was this intense suspense that the statement produced. ‘what could it be?’ I quizzed myself.

My brother went on to disclose the reason behind his sudden outburst into the room. It was not any bag of naira or dollars lying around somewhere. (oh! that actually beat my imagination). He had just seen a huge grasshopper on mum’s car bonnet. Was I flattered since it is not what I imagined it to be ? Yes I was. I love nature. Nature is like a bag of thousand dollars lying everywhere. 

I know some of you will be probably thinking silently or loud, perhaps, this guy is obsessed with little animals right? I guess you can say that but the word I would prefer to use is ‘fascinated’. I am fascinated at these cute  little things. Nature marvels me a lot because there is so much beauty, philosophy, contemplation, peace, scenery and serenity in nature. Does it not fascinate you too? I mean, how God in his infinite power created nature, the trees, animals, sky, oceans, seas, flowers, and us (mankind; the top of the food chain), and amazingly all these things have been subjugated for us. God is great.

The way I leaped from the bed and fetched my camera, if you were Da Vinci you would have been able to paint the level of passion that was in me. As a shooter (not a gun shooter )I loaded my gun (oh! Not again, I must have been seeing too much gun movies). when I say gun here I am referring to my Camera, that is the only thing I can shoot, and oh I can shoot my shot too (you know what that meant right? winks). I inserted the battery, did some few basic setting and stepped out of the room.

The view was amazing, the green grasshopper was huge and really spectacular. When I got there, it was still on the bonnet facing the torchlight. Its tiny hands were elevated around its face like a devotee praying to God. If you are wondering why the torchlight was there at first, here is the explanation. Some of the time, there could be a hell of heat in the house, so, we often catch some air in the compound for a while. The torchlight is always placed on the car bonnet as a source of illumination to clear away total darkness.

I was worried initially, if the grasshopper would leap off the bonnet before I could take every good shot I desire but gracefully, it did not (that is what happens when you play a lot around dragon flies you do not want to be heartbroken again). The night visitor was there, attracted to the light and busy feeding on insects. These insects were also attracted to the light. I guess we are all attracted to one light or the other in life and while some allows us to feed, some make us to be fed upon (that is the parable I could interpret from the scene).

Click! Click! Click! I started taking pictures of the creature with my Nikon D3100 and a 55-200mm lens. Even though the shootout session would have been easier if I had an 18-55mm lens, but with a touch of creativity, I was still able to take some marveling shots. I also did a very short video  to capture the gesture of the grasshopper with the way it was moving its tiny hands. I guess he was thanking me that I took those pictures. Arigato, shukran, modupe, gracias, it could be saying any of these, who knows. Thanks for reading. Here are the pictures, have a wonderful viewing. If you are interested in the video, go to my Instagram page @jaypee-d-poet