Walking Treasure

Besides getting some exercise, walking puts me within a bend (which is harder on some days than others), and a reach of treasure.

Since becoming involved with the can drives at our church, I find it very hard to walk by a returnable can or bottle. On some trips I've returned with a half dozen of returnables tucked into the crook of my elbow or bulging out of my pockets, (when I forget to take a bag). Some say, "It's only a nickel." Yes, it is a nickel, but it's a nickel I didn't have before. And on these nickels and more 16 people raised over 50 thousand dollars to attend World Youth Day. Making these treasures more attractive are the flip tops, and Coke and Pepsi Reward bottle tops. The flip tops the Girl Scouts are saving for the Ronald McDonald House, the Coke Rewards are saved for our school and well, the Pepsi rewards are for us. So, it's a win win situation: for the Youth Ministry, cancer survivors, the school, us and picking up the litter definitely helps the environment. But lately I've been finding science. For lately I've been spotting Monarch butterfly caterpillars on milkweed.

The kids love it when they see me gingerly carrying my bottle bag into the house. Green milkweed leaves popping out of the top. "Did you find one?"

"Yes." They are gold, black and white wiggly things -- but to the kids, to me, they are utmost treasure. Offering them temporary housing in an old plastic pretzel barrel; we feed them until they are about to burst. Cleaning their house, better than we clean our own -- for they are our guests after all. And we watch and we wait.

Our first guest ate and ate for two days and has been in a chrysalis for about a week. Very light green at first, it has now darkened and has a rim of gold dots. Signaling that it will soon emerge as a butterfly. The jar is in the middle of the kitchen table. My camera is its constant neighbor.

While out walking yesterday I found another caterpillar: plump but still eating milkweed. Once home, it still continued to eat before checking out the sticks that we've included for their fun and possible sites for metamorphosis.

This morning it is attached to the side of the plastic very close to its cousin. It would be so interesting to actually see it form the chrysalis.

There is treasure out there along those sidewalks. Science treasure, cans, bottles and oh yeah -- I also found two pennies and a dime.