Metamorphosis

Did you ever hatch a butterfly as a kid? We did. A few times. Here, Zach & I are watching as our Monarch dries it's wings. Circa 1987

And this guy, if I remember correctly, turned into a giant brown and red moth. Isn't he huge?

I vividly remember the first time I followed the journey of a caterpillar into a butterfly so when we found a tiny green caterpillar among the carrots in our garden I was really excited! One of Luca's favorite books right now is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle so she was happy to help keep the jar full of fresh greens. Here's Luca (a little under the weather, those red eyes!) holding our "big fat caterpillar!"

(You know how Mommies sometimes call children by the wrong name even though they know it's wrong? Well, at the end of this video you will hear me clearly say "caterpillars can swim". This is false. :) What I was trying to say is "caterpillars can climb" but those neurons misfired. Luckily, I don't think Luca was listening.)

With the help of google images, I was able to determine that our little guy would grow up to be a black swallowtail. (I was delighted. I had wondered if we were just hatching a little gray moth!)

The cocoon. (Isn't chrysalis a much finer word than cocoon or pupa? Alas, thanks to Eric Carle, every time I tried to call it a chrysalis Luca looked confused and corrected me. "Mommy, this is a "coon""

Beautiful!!! (We missed it for the pictures but several hours before hatching, the cocoon became transparent and you could see the black, blue & orange of wings.)

Hatched!

This experience had Joe and I both thinking about the intricacies of creation. What actually happens inside that cocoon? And how can that be anything but God? Wow.

And just for good measure: Luca as Eric Carle's caterpillar at the zoo...

...and a beautiful butterfly!