The bare image of a butterfly is enough to make me happy. The summers of my childhood in Iowa were filled with butterflies.
Imagine my delight when Jesse, Abi and Rebekah took me to the Butterfly Pavilion to celebrate with my little grandsons. Admittedly, two-month-old Sean slept through most of it in the snuggie on his mother's breast.
Rylan, vibrantly awake, now nearly 2 1/2, shared moments of wonder, as the still, very still butterflies startled away with a quick flutter out of reach of his tiny fingers.
We investigated the other creatures on display. Rylan watched as I let Rosie the Tarantula crawl over my hand. Very furry and warm, the tarantula for the first time seemed to me one of God's creations. The tarantula wrangler told me Rosie has two teensy claws on each foot, which help her get a grip. (I had to be brave, since I told Rylan that spiders are not yucky.)
We touched, with the back of one finger, starfish and horseshoe crabs. Did you know starfish are red, blue and orange as well as the more familiar golden. When alive starfish wrap their arms around each other, not stiff at all. The hermit crabs move amazingly fast. The scorpions looked suitably menacing.
Rylan's favorite part was running and jumping and climbing over and under the flower and caterpillar bridges and slides. Auntie Abi took him through the maze.
The tropical warmth and the sun and shadow of the Pavilion reminded me of my trips to Costa Rica in the jungle areas.
The beautiful blue butterflies, as big as my hand, are themselves a sufficient argument to SAVE THE RAINFORESTS. I hope we save the rain forests before these smallest of God's creatures are as endangered as elephants, whales and polar bears. I hope my great-grandchildren can have butterfly birthdays, too.
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| by Abi Cunningham |
Imagine my delight when Jesse, Abi and Rebekah took me to the Butterfly Pavilion to celebrate with my little grandsons. Admittedly, two-month-old Sean slept through most of it in the snuggie on his mother's breast.
We touched, with the back of one finger, starfish and horseshoe crabs. Did you know starfish are red, blue and orange as well as the more familiar golden. When alive starfish wrap their arms around each other, not stiff at all. The hermit crabs move amazingly fast. The scorpions looked suitably menacing. |
| Grandma & Rylan Taking a Break |
The tropical warmth and the sun and shadow of the Pavilion reminded me of my trips to Costa Rica in the jungle areas.
The beautiful blue butterflies, as big as my hand, are themselves a sufficient argument to SAVE THE RAINFORESTS. I hope we save the rain forests before these smallest of God's creatures are as endangered as elephants, whales and polar bears. I hope my great-grandchildren can have butterfly birthdays, too.