“Wisdom cannot be imparted.
Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else…
Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.
One can find it, live it, do wonders through it,
but one cannot communicate and teach it.”
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
(black swallowtail caterpillar / Julie Cook / 2020)
Well, I knew it was just a matter of time.
The caterpillars have found the parsley.
There must be at least 15 caterpillars now making the most of my nice pot of parsley.
And so you should know that this lowly creature will…
Become this lovely creature:
And this one…
And this one…
And this one…
Will all become one of these…
(Black swallowtail / Julie Cook / 2020)
These guys, well, I moved one of their caterpillars out from the garage yesterday,
so there are no before images…only the after shots
(Eastern tiger swallowtail / Julie Cook / 2020)
(Eastern tiger swallowtail / Julie Cook / 2020)
And so now, I share…my parsley.
Yet I must confess that sometimes I’m not too keen to share certain things.
I think we all have a bit of the selfish child that remains buried within.
As adults, we know that sharing is a good thing.
And so we can bend our will in order to do what is kind, considerate and decent.
We strive to teach children to do the same.
We must teach them to share as they/we seem to come into this world
hardwired with a distinct “mine” mentality.
When I first started to keep a garden…I would get so mad at the rabbits, the crows,
the other birds, the squirrels, the deer, and yes the caterpillars, who would
all invade, dig up or purge my labors by eating seeds, the tender new shoots
or the actual fruits of said labor, my fruits and vegetables.
And then I figured out that if I planted a little extra or a few distractors, things
that would appease my thieves, I could then strike a delicate balance between
what I knew would be stolen versus what I wanted to be harvested.
And sometimes, despite my best-laid plans, it just came down to who was the fastest
on the scene.
Now granted this was not always the perfect relationship as the deer would seem to
poke their feet in the melons simply to be spiteful…or the birds would jab
each blueberry, leaving the berry on the bush, full of holes.
But if I was going to be successful with a garden…there had to be give,
take and yes, share.
And so speaking of sharing, last week when I had to go to Atlanta to keep the Mayor,
who had contracted the Sheriff’s viral infection from the previous week, the
very notion of sharing took place in the form of “rain.”
And no, I do not refer to the sort of rain that falls from the sky.
If you’ve ever been around a young child who coughs or sneezes or
God forbid, suddenly needs to throw up…well, you know that kids
don’t cover their mouths, turn away, cough into the crook of an arm, or
race to the bathroom when an emergency calls.
To a child, if it comes, whatever it might be, it comes for good or bad…
matters not who might be in its path.
So there was a puny Mayor, who was sitting on my lap last week while we were watching cartoons.
Suddenly she started sneezing…and a spray of mist subsequently blanketed my lap and legs.
Gleeful the Mayor happily announces “RAIN”!!!!
“Yes”, I sardonically noted, “it has rained…”
…as I grabbed a sacred Clorox wipe in order to wipe down my legs and arms.
So should I be surprised that I now have felt like crap for the past two days and find
myself unable to breathe due to such a cloggy nose?
No.
No, I am not surprised.
For a sick child shared her “rain” with me.
And well, despite the shelves being long bare of Clorox wipes…
the sacred canister we had on hand was simply no match for the Mayor.
And so why do we seem so mystified when folks continue getting that
Wuhan flu??? That COVID mess?
Why do we ponder as to how it keeps making the rounds?
Sharing just seems to happen…even when we try being selfish.
No matter the best precautions, the best-laid plans…sharing is going to happen
whether we want it to or not.
Oh and for the record…that poison ivy…well, it keeps sharing too.
Everything seems to want to share…all the wrong sort of things!!!
So regarding the following verse, just know that God did not mean that we should share
our germs…but other more treasured items and deeds….
the germ part is just part and parcel of being alive.
The good and bad.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have,
for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Hebrews 13:16
cookiecrumbstoliveby 