7 Billion people on the planet and 7 caterpillars (and counting) on our swan plant. Like Earth, it is heaving with fat little fuzzy nibblers, gradually eating the one thing that sustains their existence.
One fat cat jumped ship last week, and humped its way over to a neighbouring hebe. He chewed on his new host for a day then settled down for a lengthy sleep/meditation on the miracles of self transformation. Its never to late to change our footprint, it seems.
Every day the children and I find ourselves out at the plant, checking out for the new caterpillars, looking at the destruction and marvelling at the chrysalis, hanging there glistening with dew drops. Its such a lovely conversation starter - on life and death and benefits of eating your greens.
Big Brother has been oogling the chrysalis, willing the butterfly to burst out. Little brother has been seeing how close he can get to wiping past the plant on his bike. I cannot bring myself to commit caterpillar genocide, to nobly save the strong to continue the species and all that. Little Miss doesn't have the same concerns, she likes to poke 'em. She doesn't mean to hurt them of course, but I hear her out there squealing with delight as she spots them with her pointy finger 'Doh! Doh!'.
Lets hope we get a couple of butterflies to flutter by us, and a few seed pods left at the end of the season of feasting to plant next year. Pity we can't just save a few bits of dirt and grow another planet too.
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