Monarch butterflies were plentiful during my childhood: I remember following them through the garden, craning to get a closer look at those magical wings. It is now quite rare to see a Monarch where I live in Oregon, and sadly, the species was added to the endangered list last year.
We Need More Ambassadors of Childhood Wonderment
Climate change is the likely cause of mass extinctions of Monarch butterflies and so many other species around the world, but something stops us from taking action. This widespread human inaction begs the question: do we really understand what is at stake? As soon as the pollinators are gone, we won’t be far behind. Perhaps recapturing childlike wonder is one key to beginning the process of positive change.
Invite a Caterpillar to Dinner
In the fall of 2020, a Monarch caterpillar took up residence on my dining room table and gave me a front-row seat for the transformation show of a lifetime. The wee creature, dubbed “Fred” after Frederik the Great, another kind of Monarch, became my teacher as I observed and chronicled his transformative process. I was utterly captivated by Fred’s process of metamorphosis, and I ended up transformed by the life lessons emerging from my time with him. Based upon my observations of his magical process, my book, Fred the Monarch: A Tale of Transformation and Hope, was intended for children, but people of all ages are finding solace in its universal lessons.
We Are Not Separate
After Fred’s visit, I found myself spending more time in the garden, sitting for hours in silence, watching the bees and birds, the butterflies, beetles, and squirrels who live in harmony. Consider the beauty and purpose of feeding another being, the utter magic of a caterpillar snatched up and swallowed into the belly of a bird or a wasp, and how that caterpillar’s contribution to a healthy ecosystem supports every creature that lives there. Without the butterfly, the bird, and the wasp, there can be no earth, and there can be no us: we are not separate from that exquisite cycle. By observing the other creatures with whom we share this home, we may come to understand that we, too, are participants in this vast and mysterious web of life. And then we can set about the work of saving it.
Delila Olsson
Delila Olsson is a lifelong Montessori educator who believes children need to connect deeply with nature to understand their place in the family of things. Her first book, Fred the Monarch: A Tale of Transformation and Hope, is available online anywhere books are sold.
