Nature is the one of those places where most people feel like they are connected to something truly great. There’s a sense of peace that fills your whole being when you sit quietly, silently among the trees, near a lake or on a hilltop. I know it’s where I feel at home.

It might also be one of the reasons I love going to Christmas tree farms. I love wandering among the trees, quite frankly, hoping to not find the perfect one too quickly.

This past December when my family and I went searching for our perfect tree, I was so happy that I just had to reach out and give a tree a hug.

Silly? Well, funny enough, I was watching “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday, and Gayle King mentioned that she was inspired by a park ranger in Iceland, who spoke about the emotional benefits of hugging a tree. Wow, I’m not the only one who loves trees!

If you want to hug a tree too, this week is the perfect week to do so. Wednesday was Earth Day and Friday was National Arbor Day! What more reason do you need?

So you need another reason? Not only is it a good reason to get out into your backyard, but also your neighbors won’t think you’re weird. They’ll just think you have a case of cabin fever, which of course is far more preferable to coronavirus.

My recommendation if you’re going to hug an evergreen tree (like I did), then wear a coat with a hood. Some of them are a little prickly, so a coat will make the experience more enjoyable.

If you’re going to hug a deciduous tree (the leafy ones), go ahead and feel free to wrap your arms around that trunk. While you’re there, inspect it for any spotted lanternfly egg masses and scrape those off.

Ah yes, when spotted lanternflies were our biggest problem.

You know, actually, this pandemic thing is the perfect time to get your kids out hunting for spotted lanternfly egg masses. The egg masses look like a flat smear of grayish-brown mortar spread unevenly about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. Each egg mass contains 30-50 eggs and can be destroyed from September to June.

According to Penn State Extension, spotted lanternflies lay their egg masses on any hard surface - patio furniture, concrete blocks, rocks, trees. If you find the masses, then use a plastic card or putty knife to scrape the egg mass “into a bag or container filled with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer and keep them in this solution permanently,” the PSU Extension home management guide said.

Don’t want to use your hand sanitizer that you scoured the area looking for? No problem. If you’re like me, then you probably bought extra rubbing alcohol in early March to make your own hand sanitizer when the little bit you found runs out. It doesn’t take much rubbing alcohol to soak the egg masses in, so you can spare a little.

The guide continues, “Egg masses can also be smashed or burned.” Sounds like someone really hates these insects.

The egg masses may be high up in a tree, so don’t go climbing the tree just to get at them. This is not the best time to have to go to the ER with a broken arm. Just let it go.

If after your efforts to protect our leafy friends, you see the black with white polka-dotted nymphs of the spotted lanternfly, then wrap the trunk with a wide sticky tape. The nymphs will stick to it on their way up to munch on the leaves.

Don’t make the sticky swath too wide, because we don’t want birds to get stuck to it. Seriously, PSU Extension warns that this could happen, because obviously it has somewhere.

If you want to learn more about ridding our environment of this pretty, but invasive species, then go to https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-management-for-homeowners. Oh, and if you see bees or yellow jackets stalking a spotted lanternfly this summer, don’t kill the bee or yellow jacket. They may be helping us in this battle.