July 15, 2019
Sometimes I can only sit with my mouth hanging open when nature shows itself. Since coming here, I have no trouble understanding why there are those who study the many different species in this great world. Just the insects alone come in an abundance of variety. I saw what looked like a horsefly today that was so beautiful with its fluorescent green and turquoise legs and head. The wings stark contrast in charcoal black. Actually, it reminded me of a bee, but the wings were’t quite right. They don’t make them like that in Canada.
Earlier, I was sitting on my chair outside with my feet up on the step to stretch out while I typed an email on my iPad. I had to go in my room for something, although I can no longer remember what that was because of what happened next. I put my fingers under the keyboard to lift it as I was about to rise from my chair. I felt a very sudden sharp pain on my finger which made me lift the iPad higher to find out what just bit me. To my very great surprise I saw this critter….
I have no idea where it came from, but suspect it was on my chair, perhaps on the leg or under the seat, then found it’s way to my leg. My finger really hurt, like a wasp bite, only in several places where the fern-like barbs connected to my skin. Small bumps formed, my skin turning red and a bit swollen right away. I also felt a similar sting on my leg underneath where it lay. It’s so amazing, looking like someone creative decided to decorate one of those rubber worms with teeny, tiny bits of fern. I also couldn’t help but think of soldiers laying in the grass on their bellies, their helmets dressed in similar fashion. So many of our brilliant ideas must come from observing nature. You have to believe that when you see something like this.
This is something I often wonder about, nature and our inventions. Of course it takes intelligent, sometimes brilliant minds to create many wonderful things in our world, but I feel we must also give credit to the source of many of those ideas. For example burrs = Velcro, dragonflies or hummingbirds = helicopter, fireflies = flashlight or just light. The power went out here one night, the light pollution was zero. It was close to 11:00 pm so I just turned in for the night. I saw a flicker of light at the corner of my eye, and was delighted to see 2 fireflies dancing around my room. They have different settings for their flashing lights which I thought was interesting (male/female perhaps). One was like a dash, the other a dot reminding me of Morse code. I was also surprised at how long their lights stayed on. My flashlight kept on the table beside my bed for just such an occasion, made me see the similarity of what man invented and what God gave us. I thought of this on a different plane as well because it occurred to me how something so plain and unnoticeable when the lights are on, becomes a thing of magical beauty in the darkness. People can be this way as well, I think in different situations. I am reminded of the time I danced on stage wearing a mask which was made specifically for this dance. We each represented a different bird, mine was an eagle. I was so much more comfortable on stage for this dance, knowing the majority of people in the audience would not know me. Some of us are more comfortable in situations where we aren’t obvious and this is when we “shine” so to speak.
But back to the caterpillar and the issue I was having getting it off me. It held on with it’s tiny feet, unwilling to go on it’s way. I certainly didn’t want to pick it up after feeling it’s sting, so as it moved onto my shirt, I searched for a stick. This didn’t work either, and I was beginning to think I would be carrying it around all day. Finally I persuaded it to go onto a tree, using my shirt to gently encourage it in that direction.
Javier and Maria stopped by to say hello, and so I showed them the picture of this crazy guy. Of course I didn’t understand their name for it, but they said it was a butterfly not a moth. That evening I tried to identify it online, but when I found a photo which looked pretty close there was no name. Javier said it became a brown butterfly though, the closest one I could find was the Owl Butterfly. As I was searching, I was distracted by a fluttering noise on the wall where my night light is. It also got Mali’s attention as she was on the floor in front of the light. I got up to investigate, spooking not one but two brown butterflies who were now bouncing around on my ceiling. This was one of those times when I stood there with my mouth open as I digested the odds of the very butterfly I was searching for online coming into my room. One was bigger than the other, the smaller one settling down sooner. I tried to get a decent picture, but it was pretty difficult- my phone camera is just not good enough for this kind of thing.
I did not have to look up the spirit meaning of either the butterfly or caterpillar, knowing they both represent change, inner development and transformation. They stayed with me through the night, leaving out the open window while I was working on my blog entry for today (July 16th).
I will always be fascinated by nature, the way it speaks to us, teaching us in many ways. We must respect our teachers, so they keep sharing their knowledge with us.
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