Is it just in my circle of life or does every child feel the need to capture a firefly or a caterpillar and put them on display in a jar? When I was nine, an older neighborhood friend showed me her charming butterfly box. The old cardboard box had been transformed with paint, even little windows and curtains to house a butterfly.
There are always air holes and grass thrown into the container, but we all know that the bugs are either released or they die. I like to encourage curiosity, a oneness with the creatures of our earth so I'm torn about the thought of a friendly bug spending its few hours on earth in a jar. (What child ever wanted to catch a not-so-friendly mosquito?) At the same time, I am drawn to the wonder of young eyes investigating how a fuzzy caterpillar feels and crawls. "What do they eat, Omi?" Let's find out together, then, why don't we watch it crawl out of the jar.
A lovely photo - it tells such a familiar story in a beautiful way.
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