Caterpillars, Grasshoppers and Ladybugs

I walked outside this morning to find the boys sitting on the porch with a mason jar full of murky water. As I get a closer look I see a slowly swirling extravaganza of baby grasshoppers, ladybugs..and one juicy yellow caterpillar. As I pour the wriggling,wet contents of the jar on the warm, dry cement, I explain to the boys that generally bugs can't swim. I rescue the caterpillar(which was a supposed to be a gift to me from Jared last night) and put him back into the empty jar with a nice green leaf to nibble on. He now sits in the jar on my desk as I work...a reminder of my beautiful boys..a reminder of my own childhood summers. I sent the boys off to Grandma's house today with high hopes of accomplishing some editing and business duties. Now here I sit with a squirmy baby girl on my lap, not really getting much of anything done, but enjoying every moment of her cooing and jibber jabbering...knowing it doesn't last long and soon enough she will be outdoors with the boys taking part in whatever naughtiness she comes upon. Summertime as a child is such a magical, exciting time, I remember summers as a small child so fondly, playing in the dirt with spoons and empty yogurt cartons and catching potato bugs and grasshoppers..I can still remember the smell of humid pickle jars that imprisoned dozens of spitting grasshoppers...I remember the sound of their bodies hitting the glass as they attempted their escape. I can still feel the heat of the pavement on my skin as I lay in the sun drying off from a dash through the sprinkler, with a root-beer flavored popsicle melting slowly in my small hand.These are the things I remember when I watch my boys playing in the sandbox, or playing in our canoe filled with water in the backyard. To a parent, it's just dirt and wet underwear...but to our children...it's magic. They live in a paralleled dimension..one which we cannot see or feel..fueled by imagination and energy..Oh how I miss the carefree days of summer as a child..but feel so blessed to be able to witness the joy and excitement as I observe my own children experiencing it. So, thank you, chubby little yellow caterpillar, for being a reminder to me today...that life truly is.. beautiful.

And, speaking of beautiful...isn't she?