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?