Small Miracles, Feeding Your Soul

A friend recently gave me a handful of luna moth eggs. Have you seen a luna moth? With magenta-lined green wings, long tails and false eyes on their hindwings, a white, furry body and yellow antenna that look like mini feathers, they are a sight to behold. Did I mention their wingspan? It’s 3-7 inches! Even those who know nothing about moths can appreciate how amazing it would be to see one of these beauties up close. These eggs, or future moths, as I like to refer to them, will hopefully join the world soon as very hungry caterpillars. In their caterpillar stage they are eating machines, focused solely on feeding. In between munching on leaves, they poop, and molt 5 times before going into their next stage– their cocoon where they will transform their body from caterpillar to adult, emerging 2-3 weeks later as the stunning moth we all long to see. 

Did you know 69% of caterpillars develop on just one family of plants? So as kids when we learned to put a caterpillar on any green plant, this was  incorrect. What are the chances we randomly chose the right one!? Just as a monarch butterfly caterpillar feeds only on milkweed, so do other moth and butterfly caterpillars require a particular plant family. Luna moth caterpillars feed on hickory, walnut, sweetgum and persimmon. My Enchanted Forest has lots of the first two, so I’m ready!

Last week I hosted 30 people on two different nights at my house, sharing with them the marvelous, and largely secret, world of moths. Most people have no idea that moths outnumber butterflies nearly ten to one, or that moths can be just as large, colorful, and beautiful as their day-flying cousins or that they are important pollinators and keystone species to a functioning ecosystem. In the past four years I’ve come to know a lot about moths and have gained such an appreciation for this misunderstood creature. Mothing feeds my soul, brings me joy, shows me that beauty is everywhere.

I have several takeaways from these mothing nights. First, strangers can become friends with only a few questions. It’s amazing what you might have in common with someone, but if you never start a conversation, how will you know? Sometimes opening up a dialogue is all it takes, but so often we are absorbed in our own little world and don’t bother to make an effort. Here’s your reminder to go above the standard, “How are you?” and take a chance. In the worst case scenario, you might spend a a few minutes longer than necessary; in the best, you might make a new friend. 

Secondly, Mother Nature offers countless miracles but most of the time we are too busy doing other things to pay attention. I put myself in this group too, often so busy working in my office that I don’t take time to step outside and look. A luna moth going from a speck smaller than a pea to an exquisite flying beauty in less than 8 weeks is a miracle! A cicada emerging from underground where it’s spent the past 1, 2, 13 or even 17 years, and being able to fly is a miracle! A small salamander making its way through the leaf litter, or a baby bluebird leaving the nest –flying even though it has never flown before! is a miracle! A monarch butterfly knowing the way to Mexico even though it has never been there, is a miracle! A dragonfly leaving the water, climbing up a reed and crawling out of the skin it’s been in since hatching from its egg is a miracle. An oak tree standing tall, holding thousands of perfect, green leaves when just 4 months ago it appeared dead and lifeless is a miracle! We are surrounded by small miracles and on most days, we don’t even notice. All around us, every day, and night, are things worth looking at, learning about, appreciating.  

And lastly, being with all of these friends and strangers reminds me of the importance of doing things that feed my soul, not because it will change the bad that is happening in the world, but because in order to feel whole and have the energy to keep going, we must take care of ourselves first. For different people that may mean different activities–perhaps getting out for a night with friends, spending time in nature by ourselves or participating in a creative project that allows time to slip away uncounted. 

I’m reminded of something my friend Bea shared after attending one of my Marvelous Moth evenings: She said, “After your presentation and before we started on the ’station visits’…..I stood quietly, regaining my breath and leg strength (injured hip) at your driveway at the foot of your home….just looking up at the magnificent trees to the night sky..and suddenly I found my two feet solidly  “grounded” and the rest of me/my body, feeling just as tall/solid/soaring/complete as the forest’s trees.” 

Let Mother Nature help keep you grounded in this time of turbulence; look for miracles in the little things that no one else sees, and always, always, remember to make time to feed your soul.  

… tonight is a very special night-– According to Smithsonian,” a double meteor shower when the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids peak at the same time.” causing up to 100 meteors per hour!! If you need some soul food, this could be it!  Watch after midnight in an area with little light pollution. More information here.