If I grow up...

One of my housemates recently recounted a story about one of the partner's 3-year old daughters and her wonderful inquisitive nature. As the hills of Georgia have turned green and the woods have filled up with color, sweet smells and birdsong once more, lots of creepy crawly things of all sorts have begun to emerge. It is mostly inchworms that she seems to get especially excited about, although moths, grasshoppers, frogs and baby bunnies certainly aren’t out of the question. On this day, however, it was a caterpillar that she came running to Natalie with. She exclaimed over how small and beautiful it was and, in a moment of rapture, clasped it to her chest and exclaimed resolutely, “If I grow up, I want to be a caterpillar!”

As Natalie pointed out, she didn’t say “WHEN I grow up…” Nope, instead she said, “IF I grow up…” and then expressed her love of that little squirmy worm thing, knowing full well that it might just become a fantabulous butterfly someday. Personally I have found the various caterpillars and inchworms of all sizes and types to be a little unsettling as they drop out of trees or shimmy across my neck after hitching a ride on my bike jersey. Less admiring and more flailing generally ensue which make me worry that I may just be “growing up” in spite of myself. If I do grow up, I think it is her kind of growing up that I really want to do.

Her playmate, who is almost 3-years old, is also pretty inquisitive about all of this new life of spring, but she expresses it in a slightly different fashion: she eats things. Nope, not inchworms or moths or grasshoppers (that I know of), but she really loves wild plants. While most 3-year-olds I know would tend to prefer ice cream and goldfish, this girl already seems to have developed a hankering for wild edibles. Tonight at supper she passed up the delicious rice and dhal that her Mama and Leah had made and went straight for the wild green briar shoots, reeling them in inch after inch like some crazy, green, scrumptious spaghetti. Bon appetit!

I’m so very grateful for these two and all the other small-ish people around here who remind me every day to keep my eyes open and to expect to find beauty, wonder and nourishment in completely unexpected places.

Luna Moth (on the deck this morning)