This Is Almost Everything

I had a post all ready for last Friday, but something happened. Not anything dramatic or in particular, just a quiet realization that what ever we have to say about the world doesn't really matter, so we might as well just go quiet. So we did. We still feel like being quiet. Not exactly the best thing for blogging, but that's just the way it goes. So here are a few things we've seen lately. It's not much, but it's almost everything. We're okay, we just think the world is in such seriously bad shape that it takes our breath and our voices away.
This fly (we think it's a fly, it's got a single set of wings) was found dead, but in stunningly perfect condition. It's been a few days, and look at it. How it died like this, absolutely pristine, and lying at the threshold of the greenhouse is anyone's guess. We're keeping it.

While I was weeding in the new fall carrot bed, I noticed this perfect jawbone among the leaves. Roger thinks it came from the compost. That makes sense. I'm sure someone out there can identify which rodent this set of little teeth helped keep fed for a while. Check out the lines on that palm. Please feel free to read and tell me my fortune.

This caterpillar was walking up our window. I couldn't resist the view of its underside. Those great feet, the little false (they are false, aren't they?) eyes, and the strands of dust or web around its head, the telltale signs of where its been.

A red-breasted sapsucker in our willow tree. First time. We could hear it tap tap tapping, as it moved around the tree. A lovely faraway sound.

Roger says he'll do a post on Wednesday, an update on his health report and the amazing datil pepper harvest. It's the little things, and it's all we've got.

Look Into My Eyes

Is it crazy to love a caterpillar? Not romantically, of course, but just that feeling of gladness at the sight of it and gratitude for its very being. Maybe it is, but look at this caterpillar. Tell me he's not beautiful. Not a perfect genius of evolutionary expression. Couldn't you love this creature?
I found this guy crossing the road the other day, when I was walking home from the mailbox. I picked him on the envelope I had just retrieved and brought him closer so I could take a longer look. That's when I saw he had these perfectly beautiful, but false eyes. They were bright yellow with deep blue centers. I looked into them, and they seemed to have more depth than most sensing eyes I've peered into. I was absolutely captivated by them. So I took the caterpillar home to photograph. I found myself talking to him the whole way, explaining that it was a short walk, I wouldn't hurt him, and I would set him free right away. I pretended that he listened with his invisible caterpillar ears.

After I took these pics, I carefully carried the caterpillar into the woods, away from the road. If all goes well, he will become a Western Tiger Swallowtail. Something I will be just as happy to see next summer, and will love as much.