jet

My first hobby was collecting bugs. I would find them lifeless; I was fascinated by their delicate beauty and fragility. I would keep them in a square turqoise cardboard jewelry box. My most prized possesions were the yellow monarch butterfly I found laid to rest a top the stump were my strawberries grew, and a giant blue dragon fly.

One day I took my box of bugs to school for show and tell. Everyone was so interested but I didn't let anyone touch them because they were so fragile. I set the box on a desk and sat down to listen to the next show and tell. One of my classmates accidentally dropped my box of bugs while sneaking a peak and they shattered across the floor in slow motion.

Twenty years later, I find myself hanging small square shadow boxes encasing different types of butterflies. I buy a new one every year at the state fair and someday will have a wall full and I will know all about each one.