Blessing #1 - a ladybug resting on your hand

Along the west side of my house, there are four rose bushes.  Sometimes, while tending to the flowers, there would be a  on ladybug the leaf of one of the plants. (or a manbug, which is a brown ladybug, for those who don't know).  We've all done this - position your finger just under the leaf so that the ladybug would crawl onto your hand and rest there.   And, the longer the ladybug stayed there, the more good luck you would have.  

As much as we are delighted  by ladybugs resting on our hands, they  do serve a purpose, and that is to protect our plants from aphids and insects and such.  One single ladybug can lay hundreds of eggs in an aphid colony, which, once hatched, immediately begin to feast on the insects.  One little half-shell ladybug, protecting  a large rose bush from unwanted predators.  Wow, that's pretty powerful stuff.

So, is it justified, then, for someone to lure a ladybug off of a leaf and onto our hand, just for our admiration?  Is it not better to allow the ladybug to continue in its job protecting the plant?  Guilty as charged, your honor.

Last spring, I was taking an evening stroll in a nearby park.  It's a typical man-made park  in the middle of the urban jungle - take a couple of acres of land, throw down some green grass, carve out a mile of meandering concrete and call it a walking path, and add a few trees.  It is a nice park to walk in, but certainly not a forest, or a wild-life refuge by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyway, this particular evening, I was walking along and noticed a caterpillar making its way along the sidewalk towards a tree.  Now, back in my younger days - waaayy back - I remember caterpillars being a common sight in the city.  But, I haven't seen them in years - stretching back, maybe 20 or more.  So, to see a fuzzy black caterpillar was a pretty big thrill for me.  And, so I stopped to study it.  I felt really bad for this caterpillar - on a sidewalk, exposed to pedestrians who may not see him as he struggled in his journey to safety.  I really hated for him to get squished, so I took a twig and got him to crawl onto it, and then eventually onto my hand.  And, I admired this caterpillar, and imagined the butterfly that he would someday morph  to become.  I know that Long Beach is often the flight path of migrating monarch butterflies, so seeing them is not uncommon.  But, to encounter evidence that a  butterfly could someday originate locally warmed my heart.  After a few moments (and a picture or two), I gently put the caterpillar on the edge of the grass so that he could continue his journey.  (I hope I didn't confuse him too much by moving him off of his path)

Ladybugs and caterpillars resting on your hand - what a simple pleasure that is.  But knowing that these creatures have a higher purpose - what a blessing they become.