From Bugs to Books - Rescued by Small Wonders

I had just sat down in the glider when I heard a rustle in the leaves to my side. I turned hoping to see a black snake. This has been our first summer without seeing one. Instead I saw little legs waving in the air as a bug larger than my thumb tried to right itself to no avail.

In my book, a bug's no different from any other animal so I went into rescue mode, found a leaf suitable as a stretcher and carried the bug to the rocks nearby. Knowing in the cycle of life birds eat bugs, I was somewhat protective of this not-so-little creature unsure what bird was actually big enough to eat it, but also not wanting to give a bird the chance having just given this fellow his own chance.


The bug began crawling, crawling toward me with a look on its face reminding me of the childhood book "Are You My Mother?" in which a little bird having fallen from its nest inquired of numerous animals it met as to whether each was his mother.

It bumped along the pea gravel toward me its movement reminiscent of a wagon in olden days rolling over mountain trails. While placing twigs in the rocks hoping they would be more suitable for climbing instead of my leg, I realized I had rescued a recently hatched cicada whose wings had just begun to dry. This cicada was ten times the size of the ones causing all the commotion earlier this summer in Nashville.

Maybe I was its mother since I love the much maligned cicadas, terror to some, beauty to me. The little guy seemed to truly smile yet the feeling was mutual as he posed for photo ops.

Perched on a twig I placed it next to a tree and he or she crawled a few feet up the bark, found a slight crack where the tree divided and tucked itself inside to continuing drying.

I checked on it periodically throughout the morning before driving into town to the nearest big box store to buy things I often dread because they come from China. I've nothing against the Chinese, I just like buying what I need from folks who are local or at least more local than a 'Mart store.

Fortunately we detoured by the local hardware store where most items although still made in China are tightly packed on shelves creating a different feel. Wandering through the aisles of the True Value store, I was mesmerized by the odds and ends. Rather than feeling overwhelmed and wanting to run screaming out the front door as I do in most big box stores, I felt comforted cocooned by the narrow aisles filled with rows of stuff from the stove top drip pans I was in search of to paints, pots and even machines for freezing vegetables to ensure one gets all the air out. There were no bright lights overhead or music piped in with lyrics covertly telling me to buy.

The sense of intimacy I felt reminded me of the experience at the former Sunshine grocery on Belmont Blvd that its successor Whole Foods does not have. This experience can still be found in Hillsboro Village at Davis-Cookware, Pangaea, Bookman and the Belcourt and in Parnassus Bookstore .

Wandering the aisles of the hardware store reminds me of being a kid immersed in rummaging through my grandmother's tiny three by four bedroom closet looking for the perfect outfit and heels to play dress up in or seeking gems in my other grandmother's button box, a tin can to most, a treasure chest to me.

In the hardware store, I found my personal equivalent of a treasure chest near the entrance. I had overlooked it initially as I entered intent on hunting drip pans. My treasure chest was a table filled with gardening, landscaping and cook books most through which I looked, noting colors and ideas.

We eventually checked out with a small bottle of biodegradable spot remover and a William-Sonoma cookbook on hors d'oeuvres. I may or may or may not actually cook from it, but the experience of perusing its pages has already been worth two dollars.

I was an explorer as a kid and I am an explorer now happiest when walking life's aisles tuned in to simple wonders. As I explored in the store, the cicada will explore our yard, it's portion of the world for a few days or if it's lucky weeks.

We are surrounded by small wonders. For me closets and tin cans then, bugs and books now rescue me everyday. Small things offer us the chance to awaken from sleepwalking through life. When engaging with small things, the hors d'oeuvres of daily life, we experience wonder and the true value of being alive 

What small things awaken you? In what do you find wonder?

Imagine the Shift.

-Dawn, The Good News Muse, 20 August 2011
dawn@imaginetheshift.com