Slipping Out of His Old Self
HELP!
My kitchen caterpillars are now all chrysalises - four of them. Because of them, I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, not wanting to miss their moments of transformation - and it does happen quickly. Annie Dillard wrote: "Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. The least we can do is try to be there." Well, I have been trying to be there for these particular moments of grace. The one pictured here managed to wiggle and sway and squirm his way out of his old skin, sloughed it right off, and then, sadly, fell to the bottom of the container. This part of the transformation is always the scariest. Their lives are so tenuous - attached to the future by such a thin thread. Most of them do not fall, but when they do, it is worth an attempted rescue. I tied a thread to his stem and taped the thread to the lid, hoping to give him just a little hope. Now he is suspended again, but, I think, a little damaged. The other three are just fine. Amazing wonders are happening inside their little green shells. I always imagine the light inside to be very green.
