The Joy of Nature

It's been lovely outside the past several days, and we've been making the most of it. I am fairly newly (8.5 weeks) pregnant with our second blessing, and the good weather has allowed me to sit outside and rest, camera in hand, as my almost three-year-old runs around discovering anew all the wonders God provides him in his own front yard every spring.

We've been planting flowers, and he's happy to dig into the dirt with a shovel and help me gently pat the earth down over the tender roots of the plants. My neighbor even let him help with her large garden, and he did a great job!






Our neighborhood, like many in our area, has been completely invaded by caterpillars this year. I've never seen so many! The kids are all having a blast, picking them up, letting them wiggle all over their hands and arms, and trying to keep them as "pets" in plastic containers with a few leaves and some holes for air. We adults had been talking fondly about the possiblity of so many butterflies later in the season, but a friend who is more educated about nature than I am informed me today that the fantastic, furry, yellow-and-black caterpillars that have suddenly appeared in every nook and cranny of our town will soon become plain old moths, and they'll destroy our trees if we're not careful. I love our beautiful Thundercloud plum tree, so I won't be as enthusiastic about the caterpillars hanging around here anymore. But I did get some great pictures of my son "discovering" a caterpillar:






It is so thrilling to watch his eyes widen with each new experience and to see the smile on his face when he digs into something new -- quite literally, in the case of gardening! Though parenting at this sometimes difficult age (he'll be three in June) presents many challenges, the rewards of watching one's child explore the world with such eagerness and innocence are more than worth the trouble.