Yesterday was a celebration in this household. For the last two weeks we have been nurturing a "butterfly farm". This is a small kit designed for children to learn about and assist in the hatching of butterflies. The project began with 5 caterpillars in a cup with food and air holes. We could watch them eat and move a bit, keeping the room warm, yet out of sunlight, careful to keep things clean and not introduce any bacteria. When they were ready, the caterpillars began their ascent to the top of the cup and spinning strands of silk, they attached themselves to a disk at the top, hanging upside down in a J shape. This initiated the process of their body transforming into a chrysalis. It required 'leaving them be' in stillness. The cup could not be disturbed. With our boisterous house, this was the most difficult but crucial step, doing nothing! After 24 hours, they were very gently cleaned of their webbing, and moved to the top of a small netted tent, still hanging on the disk. Only one caterpillar had failed to climb, a source of great concern, but following the instructions, we gently lay it on a paper towel on the floor of the tent next to the tent wall. We waited some more. For the next week, it seemed nothing was happening. We began to doubt-- especially the one that had failed to climb, as it lay motionless on the floor day after day.
But yesterday, there was movement. On the floor of the tent, a new creature seemed to be emerging, but then stopped. The strangeness, the movement, and then utter stillness, convinced us it was not going to make it. But amazingly it did. What appeared to us as the weakest, the injured one without a chance, opened it's wings and we cheered! We sang happy birthday and repeated the song three more times during the day as 4 out of 5 butterflies emerged. This morning, number 5 hatched. Like yesterday's arrivals, its wings, as they dried, revealed the colorful pattern of the painted lady butterfly.
In a few days we will release them outdoors, but for now we celebrate the mystery, beauty and resilience of life that can transform...is transforming... unseen. (Susan Nettleton)