The other morning, I ventured off the campus of The Christine Center to run errands. When I emerged from the Marieke Cheese store, purchases of gouda cheese of incredible flavors and variety in hand, an inchworm was hanging from the driver’s side mirror of my car. Neon green wiggler, it was literally hanging by a thread. I did not remove it because all around was stony parking lot. It would have shriveled and died in such an environment. I decided to let the vagaries of wind born of car speed to decide its fate. The little being was gone by the time I arrived back on campus. When getting out of the car, I nearly bumped into another inchworm, green and suspended from the newly sprouted leaves of a tree. Apparently, it was inchworm emergence day! Sister Gabe told me she saw many while walking her dog, Picasso, in the woods this very same day. Definitely it was Inchworm Emergence Day!
How does such a phenomenon happen? Did the little inchworms receive a wake-up call? Does Mother Nature have her own version of the time-to-get up Reveille? She must have a kazillion different versions since all of her children do not awaken at the same time. How, for instance, do the cicadas know exactly when to crawl to the surface from their residences beneath the earth after 13, 15, 17 years of sleep? Well, not exactly sleep, because they, like the inchworms, are gestating, maturing, growing during their times of purported dormancy. Something’s going on that whole while even though we humans cannot see it.
This is the mystery of life. The mystery of creation. The mystery of a design that is so splendid, so remarkable. I am awestruck over and again by the magnificence of God’s holy creation. How often do we take our lives for granted? How often do we walk past inchworms hanging from a leaf or floating through the air in search of a landing spot without taking notice? How often do we recoil from the otherworldly appearance and bone-shaking sounds of the cicadas? Our planet is alive with wonders.
Stop. Look. Listen. Take some time to appreciate the world in which we live along with our brothers and sisters in all the species who cohabit with us. Breathe in the breath of life. Be still. Breathe out love. Be the child who views the world around her with surprise, delight and awe.
I am remembering just now the sheer joy my granddaughter felt when she spotted a rainbow over her home and neighborhood 3 years ago. Unable to contain herself, she ran to the neighbors’ home to exclaim a Rainbow Alert! She wanted to share the wonder of the multi-colored arc that lit up the sky. Her joy was contagious! We each became captivated by the spectacle that she brought to our attention. A sweet moment was shared with this wide-eyed, alert to her world child.
Let’s be like the child who takes the time to be still, silent observers and appreciators of the world in which we live.
Sent with love on this fine morning in Creation ever-creating.
Barb Woolley
© Barbara J. Woolley, Planetary Observer, Saturday, May 25, 2024. Please share this post with others in its entirety. Let’s spark a day of appreciation for our wonderful home and relations!
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