Wonder Will Be Yours

I remember staring with wonder at each of the tiny human beings we brought home from the hospital.  I couldn’t get enough of looking into their eyes, holding their perfectly plump bodies with those tiny fingers and toes, and kissing their delightful cheeks while inhaling that ambrosial baby smell.  Every good force of Nature and God was involved in bringing forth these new creations to occupy our family life for a time, and the awesomeness and privilege of that is not lost on me.  Not even after all these years.  Especially after all these years–when they have all gone on to living their own lives.

But still, when I see my cherished children, which is not often, I find myself staring at them, looking into their adult eyes, wanting to hold their hand or push back the hair from their forehead, and longing to kiss their cheeks.  Their individual worlds are separate from ours now–the way of Nature–but the wonder is still there.

There are tiny, little worlds all around us.  We catch glimpses of them from time to time and our understanding is expanded by information in books, nature films, and the encyclopedic internet.  We can take a closer look at these tiny worlds at almost any time.  Imagine the world of the honeybee–we see them working to gather nectar and pollen, but we don’t realize how much work goes on inside the hive.  Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is an abundant source of nectar for honeybees at this time of year.

They share the joy with a pungent stink bug who raised his antennae in alarm when the honeybee flew near, but he determined that the bee was no threat to him.  There was plenty of nectar to share.

Another little world lies hidden in a wild rosebush.

The bald-faced hornet, which is really a yellow jacket wasp, collects and chews wood, mixes the fibers with saliva to make pulp, and constructs a paper nest that houses comb-like nests of larvae and hundreds of worker bees.

Most everyone knows the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.  Milkweed is the host plant for the Monarch caterpillar that hatches from eggs deposited by the butterfly.  The caterpillar eats milkweed until mature, then forms a hanging chrysalis.

When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, he leaves the Milkweed world and flies into the vast, diverse Unknown full of dangers and delights.  One of the delights is the formidable Joe Pye Weed that grows up to seven feet tall and produces huge mauve pink flower heads full of vanilla sweet nectar.

While watching the butterflies and bees swarm the Joe Pye Weed, I noticed a hummingbird at the nearby Summer Sweet bush.  This small native shrub is another important source of nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds, and its fragrant, bottle-brush flowers will bloom in shade.

What a summer show!  The enticing, sweet blossoms and the birds, bees, and butterflies!

And then…Wonder!  The Hummingbird flew over to the jeweled iridescence of the butterfly and hovered there!

I am grateful and privileged to witness such a moment in the late summer world of Joe Pye.  These tiny-world moments play out all around us, most of the time without our knowing.  Take some time to notice the tiny world of some part of Nature and share the Autumn Joy!

I am no longer part of the daily world of my children, though daily they are in my thoughts, my whispered prayers, my silent sending of blessings upon their adult lives.  I want to remind them, and all of you, that looking into another person’s eyes connects two souls, shares our tiny worlds, and reflects the face of God.  Touching another person’s hand conveys interest and caring and does wonders for our physiology.  Kissing a cheek bestows a gift to the one kissed and the giver alike.  Let every good force of Nature and God inspire your life as you go through your life cycle and know that the nectar of love and joy is abundant–there’s enough for everybody!  And Wonder will be yours.