Thursday, October 7, 2010

Little Things

Yesterday, I shared some of the big things I’d like to see before I die. Today, I want to share some of the little things.

1. Fireflies. I don’t think you Easterners realize how totally awesome these bugs are. I’d definitely be willing to trade a few scorpions for some fireflies.

2. A field of sunflowers. Wouldn’t a field of sunflowers, all of them facing the sun, just be the happiest thing you’ve ever seen?

It’s a shorter list, I know, but I’m still adding to it. Happily, the list of little things I’ve already seen is longer.

1. Wild dolphins frolicking in the waves. My in-laws lived in Carlsbad, California, for a few years, an d we always went to the beach every time we visited. On one of our outings, I saw two dolphins cavorting in the same breakers we’d been swimming in earlier. I decided they must have been on their honeymoon:)

2. Caterpillars morphing into butterflies. When I was around nine, a neighbor lady offered my mother two caterpillars in a jar. She took them, of course, and for the next couple of weeks, we watched these caterpillars eat their way through bunches of leaves, spin themselves into cocoons, and emerge as two huge monarch butterflies. As I watched them fly away, I got this strange twist in my stomach. I didn’t know then--but I do now--that it was the bittersweet twinge all mothers feel when they watch their little ones go out into the world.

3. A whole rainbow. I walked out of a college class one afternoon, and there it was, a whole rainbow, a perfect arc that touched the ground in two places. If I’d been the gold-chasing type, I would have had two chances that day.

Again, I’ll probably come back and add to this list over the next few days or weeks, but since I-gots is at preschool right now, I want to get working on Bob. So I’ll finish by asking you the same question I asked yesterday (well, almost the same question): What little things would you like to see before you die, and which ones have you seen already?

15 comments:

Allison said...

Your lists are definitely inspiring me to write some of my own (which will hopefully be much too long for a comment). But your description and explanation of the butterflies was just too gorgeous for me to read without mentioning. Vivid and emotional and wonderful.

Colene Murphy said...

awe...you should def. come around here during the spring and your list would get a lot shorter! Fireflies and full rainbows never stop amazing me. :)

Erin Edwards said...

A good reminder for us to remember how lucky we are by paying attention to the little things - we have fireflies in our yard! My daughter caught one in a jar just last week. They really are magical. :)It's a nice reminder when I'm wishing I could see fall leaves right now - fall here means that everything is the brightest green it's been all year!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thank you, allison. That was a lovely comment.

Thanks for the invitation, Colene. I must admit, I've never considered going to Arkansas, but if you've got fireflies, I'm sold.

Erin, your comment about fall being green made me smile. I know exactly how you feel:)

Ben Spendlove said...

Ditto on the fireflies. I've never seen a scorpion, either. Can I trade some woolly bears for fireflies and scorpions?

I think our lists of little things are short because we don't know what we're missing. Big things are famous. Little things, not so much, but just as important.

Travis Erwin said...

I applaud you for taking the time to think about the little things. Then again those of us that write have to don't we.

Connie Keller said...

Little things that I've seen that hold a special place in my heart.

1. Fireflies--I love them. They're the only thing that make the nasty summers worthwhile.

2. Baby killer whales playing in the ocean. (They actually looked kind of like dolphins. Except not. Their mama was nearby too.)

3.Sea otters frolicking in the ocean.

4. Pelicans diving into the sea to get fish. (I'm an ocean kind of person.)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Ben, good point about why we have shorter lists when it comes to the little things. Oh, and two of the three scorpions I've seen in my life I actually saw inside my house. (Man, that deserves a whole blog post...)

Travis, you're right - it's those little things that really bring depth and relatability to our writing.

Connie, great list! I actually saw a pelican skimming over the same waves the dolphins were playing in. It was the best beach trip ever:)

Erin Edwards said...

"Oh, and two of the three scorpions I've seen in my life I actually saw inside my house." I saw more than that in my house last week! :) The rain that brings the green sends them scurrying into shelter.

LD Johnson said...

I live for the little things. I try to show my kids the mockingbird nests in the holly bushes without being ambushed by the mama bird. I love all the amazing mushrooms that grow in my yard after a rain. Every morning I have the joy of watching the chipmunks coming out to play. But the most amazing . . .seeing the first star gazer lily bloom. All these things truly make me feel small and humbled.

erica and christy said...

We have fireflies and frequent full rainbows (living on a big hill helps us see them). But someday I really do want to see the ocean.
erica

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Oh, Erin, I feel for you! After my most recent encounter with a scorpion, I spent the next few hours roaming the house with my bug spray in one hand, index finger hovering over the trigger, and my three-year-old tucked under the other arm. (The one-year-old was taking a nap, thank goodness. I would have had to grow a third appendage...)

Lodjohnson, I love stargazer lilies! My husband used to get me roses whenever there was a flower-getting occasion, but now he gets me stargazers. They last so much longer, and they're absolutely gorgeous. What a treat to see one bloom.

You will love the ocean, erica. And someday, I will love the fireflies:)

Myrna Foster said...

Oh, Erin, we've been getting rain, and now I'm wondering how many bark scorpions are hiding in my house. Ugh.

Krista, did you know that rainbows are circles when you see them from an airplane? One of my happy memories is of staying at my grandparents house when I was a child. They had prisms hanging from the east windows of their living room (where I slept on the floor), and when I woke up in the morning, there would be little bits of rainbow all over the floor.

Thanks for the uplifting post!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Myrna, now that you mention it, I remember you saying once before how rainbows look circular from a plane. And I love the idea of waking up at Grandma and Grandpa's house surrounded by little bits of rainbow. Beautiful memory.

Erin Edwards said...

Myrna - what are bark scorpions? We don't distinguish between them besides big and little, although some are light brown and some are dark brown. I think it's funny we're talking about scorpions so much - but they are captivatingly wicked looking! I think that's why people are so horrified with them, because really their sting isn't as bad as a wasp or a bumble bee. (At least in my experience, even though I got stung on the face! It was hiding in my washrag. Let me tell you, that scorpion was soon DEAD.)