Two Lessons. One Moth.
, 8.13.2010
Ahhh, August. One of my favorite times of year. New clothes, new back packs, new start, and the fair. This year, mom stayed with Madeline and Jack while the rest of us went to the fair. We rarely get a chance to be so carefree with Cali. Keeping M & J from running in front of a cars, playing with knives, or clogging up the toilet with legos usually gets in the way.
First stop: dinner at a local restaurant's booth. We order our sweet teas and joke around. The weather is perfect. It had been over one hundred degrees the last several days, but today was in the eighties. Soon after I sat down, a moth landed on my arm. When Cali started screaming, "Kill it!! KILL IT!!! Ohmygod, ohmygod!!", I realized I had a golden opportunity on my hands.
"Cali", I calmly explained, "All life has value. This moth has value just as humans do. This moth just being here is a sign of a healthy environment. Think of the transformation this moth went through. From the egg, to becoming a caterpillar, to the chrysalis, and now a moth. How amazing! And this moth serves a purpose in the circle of life. Not only does this moth have value on it's own, it is a food source for birds."
Her face softened. I hoped this lesson would stay with her. I gently put the moth on the bench. Cali asked why it wasn't flying away. I told her when we got up, if the moth had not moved, we would take it somewhere dark and out of the way. The moth was barely moving, because there were several hours until the moth would be active. "Moths are nocturnal", I said.
I applauded myself for making a positive impact, no matter how small. As I leaned over to hug her, an older man plopped down beside me on the bench. On the moth. On the now-dead moth.
"Cali, let this be a lesson to you. Laziness just killed that moth."
Post a Comment