mulberry leaves

It is fascinating to me how we can develop feelings for things that we would normally dismiss. We see caterpillars in the yard all the time and don't think twice about them, but Cole brings one home from school, names him Charlie, and it is suddenly a family pet.

If you look closely in the box you will see a silkworm and what could possibly be his last meal. I hope he savors it because we have reduced ourselves to minor acts of shoplifting to keep him fed.

There is a box of silk worms on display at Cole's school and he asked to take one home. The teacher told us that they only eat mulberry leaves. Mary and I looked at each other and thought 'surely mulberry leaves can't be that difficult to find, can they?' Mary searched around our neighborhood and tried an assortment of leaves and the poor little caterpillar would not eat any of them--at which point she sent me the following text:

"No mulberry leaves. I have just sentenced a silkworm to die and I feel terrible about it."

She then found a mulberry plant at a local garden store, but it sells for $45 and we couldn't justify the expense. I would have chipped in $15 for the little guy but almost Fifty dollars for a pet that isn't really a pet is too much. The only option left was petty theft. Mary plucked six leaves and stashed them in her purse to take home to our worm.

What are we teaching our children during this episode?

1. Cora is allowed to play with the worm, but kidnapping him from the box and hiding him around the house is discouraged.
2. Be sure you know about the proper care of a pet before making a commitment to bring it into the family.
3. Not all leaves are created equal in the eyes of certain caterpillars.
4. People resort to a life of crime when their allegiance to an ideal is strong enough to do something about it, but market values exceed their available resources. It is a good thing the worm doesn't eat diamonds.

Brownies

Cole: Dad, how did you make this?
Me: I just used my sister's recipe. Why?
Cole: So when I am a chef, I can make it instead of just talking about it.

--
I broke out my sister Bette's cream cheese ripple brownie recipe. It still rules. Cole agrees.

desk archeology

Current mood: morning bleary apathy
Currently listening to: 'Son of a preacher man' Dusty Springfield

My pen of choice at the moment is a blue 0.4 mm felt tip Artline200. Actually, my pen of choice would be a black fine tip sharpie, however, they are not readily (for a reasonable price) available here in Australia and more importantly they are not stocked in my office stationary cabinet.

Ever since starting my career working in an office and being exposed to the never-ending supply of pens which exist in the stationary cabinet, I have been hooked on felt tip pens.

I distinctly remember going to an office store in an effort to purchase one for myself and balking at the price. So, I must confess I am a serial offender of swiping pens and using them for personal use. I even snag one for Mary on occasion, though she is far more diligent at remembering to replace the cap when it is not in use and hers last longer.

When I started work this morning, I could not find a pen to use. This is not a good sign, because I distinctly remember having a cup full of them at the start of yesterday. I looked at my desk which was buried under a storm of loose paper and knew something had to be done.

Jim Schellinger, a principal at a firm I worked for in Indiana, once said that when he is faced with his most demanding work load, he ensures that his desk is clean and organized. The concept is sound, except when you make the error of filing all the stuff you need to complete your projects and then can't remember where/how you filed it.

So, I started the process of organizing and found all my pens again. As I was digging down through the layers, I would discover a pen (usually with the cap off; meeting a slow death) which would trigger a memory of what I was doing at that point in the day. I probably could have filled out my time sheet based on the color and arrangement of the pens.

back to work.

Current mood: slight guilt from this ten minute diversion. still bleary. need coffee.
Currently listening to: 'Coin Laundry' Lisa Mitchell