Forgot to tell you about what else we got at our farm last week besides green beans and watermelon. In the farm shop, there was a father who, along with his children, were selling Monarch butterfly chyrsalides. (I looked it up. The plural can be either chyrsalises or chrysalides.) They had them all dated and hanging by threads from a wooden clothes-drying rack. They were selling them for $4 a piece, and these kid vendors attracted all kids of attention – from other kids, to moms, to grandmas, and even neighbors buying a couple of them for the little boys who live next door to her. Isn’t that a sweet gift?
Well, of course we could not leave the farm without one of these special packages! We chose one that was due to emerge about 3 or four days later. The dad tucked it gently in some tissue and then into a small dixie cup for transport. At home we hung our chrysalis from a wooden skewer across a small mason jar. (Only one we had left after all of the pickles, salsa, and tomato sauce that got first priority that day after the farm trip!)
On Tuesday, I noticed that the green chrysalis had turned clear, and you could now see the orange and black stripes shining through. We had our second week of Challenge A for Classical Conversations that day – and my first day of teaching Challenge II (Yes, I’m teaching again. I’ll tell you that story later.), so we HAD to take the chrysalis with us so as not to miss any excitement that might occur while we were gone!
That afternoon, my friend Debbie noticed that something WAS happening. We all gathered around to see the Monarch emerge from the chrysalis and begin to pump blood and fluid into its floppy wings. A truly amazing sight! Debbie had recently heard a wonderful scientific teaching on creation and how a completely different organism appears out of the liquid into which the caterpillar dissolves completely during the pupa stage. It made me think of the new life Christ is able to give each of us – the potential for complete change and transformation are there, in Him, just waiting for our receiving….
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Romans 6:3-5
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galations 2:20
After he (the two black dots on his wings, near his lower body = male monarch) rode home in the van with us – perched on a Rubbermaid container holding the microscope we will need for 10th grade biology, he “hung out” in the kitchen for a while flapping and stretching those beautiful wings out. When he looked fairly active, we took him outside to let him hang from one of the branches of the bushes that surround our yard, but he fluttered happily away before we could get him there. And so high! He just flapped and flitted to the tip tops of the highest maples around, and in a matter of seconds, we could no longer find him. It was too fast. We wanted to keep observing his beautiful wings and ways, but he had places to go.
And you know where he’s going, don’t you?
For the few years I spent student teaching and then having my own classroom (16 years ago now!), there was one thing you could always count on – a migration of Kindergarteners with orange and black butcher paper wings fluttering through your classroom sometime in the spring. They were studying and re-enacting the Monarch Migration, and they were so cute. This was in Texas of course, and Texas is the final destination of many of the monarchs that start right here in my Massachusetts backyard! And if Texas isn’t its stopping place, it’s at least a layover on the way to Mexico, meaning that a huge percentage of these beauties pass through the state at some point. Just another thing that Texans are very proud to celebrate about themselves!
So wishing I could have hopped on the wings of our little friend and made the journey to a place where summer won’t be over for a while! And where friends and family are dearly missed.
Sending love and prayers on those black and orange wings….
Just beautiful. I had never thought about how it is like our new life in Christ.
I may have to get one for my boys so they can experience it too.
We will smile when we see our first monarch butterfly, Mel! Love and blue skies from Texas, K&J
Yes, your boys would love watching this miracle.
And K & J, your first Monarch will hopefully be a small reminder of our big love and thankfulness for you both. Love you lots.
Melanie, this story reminded me of my days in kindergarten in Amarillo, TX! I wrote a story about a monarch butterfly I saw in my backyard and was asked to read it over the PA to the whole school. Thanks for the happy memories!
Oh Katrina – that is so cute! Ha Ha! Monarchs are a big deal in Texas, huh? Hope you and little one are doing well!