More Butterfly News

Icky Picky has emerged. It's been three hours and he's still not showing any signs of wanting to fly. His personality is holding true.

I did some more research today. What we have raised are actually Eastern Black Swallowtails rather than Anise Swallowtails. I had no idea how many varieties of Swallowtails there are!

I also discovered how to tell the difference between males and females. Our Firstborn was a female. Icky Picky is a male. How to tell? Pretty simple. Like most in nature - the male is prettier.

It's hard not to watch their metamorphosis and not be amazed at the creativity of their Maker. Everything about them speaks of wonderfully intelligent Creator. One who lovingly thought of every last thing.

There's also a good deal of spiritual insight to gain from observation. I'm not the first to come to that conclusion, but it's been reiterated to me as I took care of them. I guess if I could put it into one sentence it would be this: I'm not yet what I'm going to be. I'm lumbering around doing my best to stay fed and not let anything eat me... I sometimes look up at the sky and long to jump and find myself soaring on eagle's wings. I can almost feel the wind lifting me higher and higher if I close my eyes and dream.

Reality is pretty harsh as a caterpillar. But God promises that the transformation will not be complete until I am no longer earth-bound.

I'm looking forward to that. One other thing the caterpillars reminded me. Sometimes it seems like people are stuck in their chrysalis. They haven't moved in days and it's easy to think maybe they're just dead. Maybe hope is gone.

But keep watching, and we might be surprised to suddenly see beauty emerge.

It's an hour later and Icky Picky has finally decided he's ready to go. I'm going to try to upload our video from his goodbye. (And yes, he took his time. It's a long video.) Tried twice. And admitted I don't know how to upload a video. I've done it before, but apparently I have forgotten or blogger has changed. If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it!

The Life and Times of Icky Picky

Meet Icky Picky the Caterpillar.

We met Icky for the first time when we were wading through the sea of weeds that has become our garden. He and his brothers and sisters (not quite sure about the gender issue when it comes to caterpillars) were living on our parsley.

We thought at first we had found Monarch butterflies. We were in a panic wondering where we might find some milkweed for our newly captured babies. Fortunately at some point my brain kicked in and I realized that if they were living on our parsley, they must eat parsley. This led me to discover in the internet sea of information that we had actually adopted Anise swallowtail caterpillars.

And so Icky Picky and his six siblings found a home in our old fish aquarium. They ate all the parsley from our garden as they grew into very fat caterpillars. Two of them died, but the remaining five have all shed their skin for a chrysalis. One has shed his chrysalis for the sky.

I can't tell you Icky Picky's story yet. He's still resting in the hole of the rock. He is the only one of our caterpillars we named, because we discovered that he had a unique personality. Yes, caterpillars have personalities. Who knew? I'm sure someone did, but not me. Icky Picky is a particular sort of creature. Whereas our firstborn found a spot to rest in a matter of minutes, Icky Picky searched for the perfect spot for an entire day. Over 24 hours he roamed. I put him back in the aquarium five times. Finally he settled in the shelter of the fish tank rock. Besides the firstborn who has already taken to the sky, his other siblings have not moved since they went into stasis. Every time Icky Picky is disturbed, he twists and turns in protest.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY

This was the smallest one we found. He was hard to see at first.

What they look like just before they make their chrysalis.

Our firstborn after he picked a spot.

Firstborn shedding his skin.

Firstborn was green after he shed his skin. The two on the rock turned the color of the rock. Who knew they could camouflage themselves?

Firstborn just after he fell out of his chrysalis.

After 2 1/2 hours of drying.

When it was time to set him free, Eldest helped him out on a stick. He climbed up onto her arm before he flew away.

Icky Picky is next. We're all keeping an eye on him.

To sum up? It's one thing to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. It's quite another to experience it.

Finishing Well

Eldest daughter is standing in front of our very own Santa Maria replica that permanently rests in the river downtown. We recently visited after studying about Christopher Columbus in homeschool.

The tour guide on the ship told us a story I hadn't heard about the unfortunate fate of the Santa Maria and her crew. Christmas day of their voyage, the entire crew (including Christopher Columbus) got so drunk they all passed out. Only a twelve-year-old boy was left to man the ship. He did his best, but managed to wreck the boat on a Haitian island.

Columbus was determined not to be defeated. He used the wreckage of the ship to build a fort, and left the entire crew there at the fort until someone could return for them, and sailed on aboard one of his other two ships.

When someone did return, they found the fort destroyed and every man (and child) killed by natives.

I was reminded of this story yesterday evening as our youth pastor reminded us of the life of Solomon. Solomon was given every advantage a king could require to rule his people well. Not only was he the son of the greatest king that ever lived, he was raised to know the law of Moses, which explicitly carried instructions for kings. Beyond all of this, God himself endowed Solomon with wisdom that was unheard of before that time or since.

And Solomon did well. For awhile. But all of his advantages led him down a path he couldn't resist, even though he knew better. 700 wives, 12,000 horses and way too much gold and silver later, he sadly wrote at the end of his life that he had missed the boat. Too late. "Fear God and keep his commandments." he wrote. "This is the whole duty of man."

I'm humbled that I don't have to learn the hard way. I can take a good hard look at Solomon and remember how he felt about all the things he had put his trust in after he got them. They defeated him. They crippled him. They tore his heart away from his Creator, where it had rested safely and peacefully, and caused him to fall in a way that ruined his life and his effectiveness.

When I add this to the message from Pastor Sol yesterday morning, I have the missing piece of the puzzle that Solomon forgot. "God's work is always accomplished through God's power." If I try to stay on the right path in my own strength, I'm destined for failure. The trick is keeping hold of the humility it takes to keep every step of my life focused on Christ.

As I hope to move forward in my writing, there are two things I've been praying for with fervency. They come from a song from Matthew West called "Stop the World." I need to be humble, I need to have nothing to prove.

And if God can remind me of that, every day, for the rest of my life, I hope I will be able to finish well.

And you as well.