Mallory has recently been obsessed with caterpillars. Every day she's out scouring the yard for another caterpillar to put in her caterpillar bucket (the scene of many untimely caterpillar deaths, sadly, because she insists on leaving them there overnight and I always forget to go release them so they won't get too cold. Or hot. Or whatever problem they have with the bucket that causes them to die overnight. Anyway.). A few days ago she looked up from her caterpillar observing and said: "Mommy, are caterpillars gods?"
"Gods?" I repeated blankly.
"Yeah, you know, gods," she said.
I stopped to think. I imagined a Caterpillar on a cloud hurling lightning bolts, like Zeus. I imagined a Caterpillar in a manger. I imagined a Caterpillar sitting Buddha-like on a mushroom a la Lewis Carroll. What I could not imagine was why Mallory was asking this particular, peculiar question.
"I'm not sure what you mean," I finally said.
"You know, did God make them," she said.
"Oh! Are caterpillars God's," I said.
"Yeah. So are they?"
"Yes. Certainly they are."
Aren't they?
Just Finished Reading
The Ha-Ha by Dave King. This book is about a disabled Vietnam vet who gets a new lease on life, as they say, when he has to temporarily take care of a friend's little boy. Very well-written and sad.
Triangle by Katharine Weber. A novel based on the Triangle Factory Fire of 1910. For some reason I love to read about tragedies like that one. (I read The Circus Fire, however, mere days before going to see Sesame Street Live last year and got really freaked out by the crush of people as we were trying to leave.) This book was really, really lovely; I wish it had been longer.
Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis. A psychological thriller, if you're into that kind of thing. After a certain point I couldn't put this book down. A good weekend read.
The Effect of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits. An excellent book, although it had a really conviluted plot which I'm still not sure I understood. I'm reading another book by Julavits now which is also very good.
(Ick, I need to find more adjectives. It was really good! It was very good! What a good book! Trust me, these books are much better than my reviews of them!)
"Gods?" I repeated blankly.
"Yeah, you know, gods," she said.
I stopped to think. I imagined a Caterpillar on a cloud hurling lightning bolts, like Zeus. I imagined a Caterpillar in a manger. I imagined a Caterpillar sitting Buddha-like on a mushroom a la Lewis Carroll. What I could not imagine was why Mallory was asking this particular, peculiar question.
"I'm not sure what you mean," I finally said.
"You know, did God make them," she said.
"Oh! Are caterpillars God's," I said.
"Yeah. So are they?"
"Yes. Certainly they are."
Aren't they?
Just Finished Reading
The Ha-Ha by Dave King. This book is about a disabled Vietnam vet who gets a new lease on life, as they say, when he has to temporarily take care of a friend's little boy. Very well-written and sad.
Triangle by Katharine Weber. A novel based on the Triangle Factory Fire of 1910. For some reason I love to read about tragedies like that one. (I read The Circus Fire, however, mere days before going to see Sesame Street Live last year and got really freaked out by the crush of people as we were trying to leave.) This book was really, really lovely; I wish it had been longer.
Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis. A psychological thriller, if you're into that kind of thing. After a certain point I couldn't put this book down. A good weekend read.
The Effect of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits. An excellent book, although it had a really conviluted plot which I'm still not sure I understood. I'm reading another book by Julavits now which is also very good.
(Ick, I need to find more adjectives. It was really good! It was very good! What a good book! Trust me, these books are much better than my reviews of them!)
Comments
Holly
Thanks for reading Triangle.