Returning from my habitual Saturday morning workout I was greeted with, "Well, I have good news and bad news."
"Who died?" I responded to mein Eheman-my German/American husband--referring to our recently captured creatures: Nibbles, Chomper, and the other unnamed small tobacco worm caterpillars; Lizzie the baby Lizard; our seven Walking Sticks and our remaining three cats.
"I'm sorry Baby," my husband said, "the birds are eating your caterpillars." (THE BAD NEWS)
"That's great!" I responded with not the slightest hint of impending tears over the loss.
You see, I have been thoroughly enjoying the chartreuse creatures who love to eat my tomato plants. They're so ugly they're gorgeous, and their rapacious appetite for our tomato leaves exceeds even my own voracity. And I love the way they grip the leaf they are eating; wordlessly letting the world know that no creature, human or otherwise, will be sharing their food. See how much we have in common? So it should come as no surprise that we eventually gave the green chompers their own tomato plant to munch. Each time we found a new friend, we transferred the little (or big) guy to it's new home--equally green--equally delicious.
The problem was that word must have gotten out, because I was finding 1-3 new caterpillars daily and was having trouble finding time to brush my pegs, do laundry, feed the lizard, etc. due to the difficulty I was having in locating these camouflaged cats. And the reason I couldn't just squish them? God's creations? Sure, but that makes me a hypocrite since I daily, easily and willingly swat and kill flies in my kitchen. I'll just admit it: I like bugs, arachnids, reptiles and other multi-legged creepy-crawlies (silverfish and cockroaches excepted). And the fact that our two youngest children like them too makes eliminating the cute caterpillars impossible. NOW...if nature takes its course and the birds decide to hunt for food on my kids' tomato plants and on the one that specifically belongs to the "cats"? My response is, "Thank you Lord for your miraculously crafted world...and for helping me effortlessly show my kids the science of life, the life cycles of our favorite creatures and critters, and for sparing me the time-consuming process of daily tobacco worm-watch".
(THE GOOD NEWS)
Tobi had bravely captured a large lizard (or possibly even a skink) while searching for small crickets to feed Lizzie the lizard. Indeed good news (but I must admit that feeding such a large lizard, as well as creating a large comfortable habitat for her, was going to add to my already over-full creature-feeding-schedule). So you see...the "bad news" was actually the good news and the "good news" was, well, good news too. After all, creature-love does entail caring for them.