Hope in a time of crisis [View all]

[TeapotInATempest]

A little backstory, and please forgive me if I seem to ramble - I live in the middle of a large northern city and have no yard, not even a small patch of grass. I do, however, have a deck that I use to plant herbs, flowers and veggies in pots. I take care to select plants that help our pollinators and I grow organically.

Last year, I chose to grow dill alongside my cucumbers so that I could try my hand at making pickles. I soon noticed a couple of tiny caterpillars, looked them up and discovered that they were Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly larvae. Cool, I thought! I’ve never seen one of those butterflies in the city! Then, the wasps carried them away and that was that, I thought.

A month later, though, there were two more of them. I took them inside and cared for them until they emerged as butterflies – one male, one female – and set them free. I was completely awestruck, as this city girl had never witnessed this phenomenon before, and welled up with tears.

This year, I asked the 6 year old if he wanted to raise caterpillars again (silly question). The dill came back on its own, in a completely different pot across the deck than the one it had been planted in originally. (I’m pretty sure this is why it’s called “dillweed”!) Early this summer, a caterpillar appeared which we took in, a female it turns out. We said goodbye with a mixture of joy and awe as she flew off.

Word must have gotten around, though, because the next thing I knew we had 8 new caterpillars. Female Eastern Black Swallowtails only lay one egg at a time, so I don’t know how many may have visited my plants. I also have literally never seen one of these butterflies in my neighborhood except the ones that I’ve raised and only as they're flying away from me. Then 5 additional caterpillars appeared but I lost these to the wasps before I could bring them in. Butterflies are known as an indicator species, because they quickly respond to even subtle changes in their environment. That I have so many now means something is going right!

This morning, after a miserable evening of trying to avoid the news about NK and possible nuclear war, I woke to find that 5 of my 8 butterflies had emerged from their cocoons and were ready to be set free.

I share this story, while simple and maybe a bit pedestrian, because I was reminded this morning that in this time of crisis – when I am so terrified, angry, and sad – that there is still beauty, and hope, and the possibility for transformation in the world. In other words, “there’s a crack in the sidewalk where a flower grows.”

Please don’t give up, fellow DUers. We have a lot of work to do and we must keep fighting.

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