Leftovers? – #SoCS

The prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “the last photo you took.” Take the last photo you snapped. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? That word is your prompt. Enjoy!

Leftovers.

This will require some additional photographic context:

Leftovers.

I am home this weekend with my daughter. My wife is with her mother and siblings in Milwaukee, and my son is having THE TIME OF HIS LIFE (at least in my head) with some buddies and a couple dads up north, shooting, riding 4-wheelers, playing paintball, etc. I have almost NO plans and nearly NO responsibilities.

Except.

Our butterfly nursery.

“Make sure the swallowtail caterpillars have enough fennel, and it looks like one of the monarchs may emerge this weekend, so keep an eye on them.”

Absolutely!

(They’ll be fine until Sunday night).

Well, it’s Saturday morning, and as I brewed my morning java, I noticed the swallowtails had eaten the fennel right down to the nubs you see in the first picture. Holy cow – what little pigs!

Someone should write a book about how caterpillars can eat so much…

The second picture is today’s restocked food supply, but folks, it literally looked like that yesterday. I can’t believe what quick work they made of it.

This morning, just leftovers.

They even ended up eating a frond of fennel they had been avoiding because it was a bit more yellow than the others. Turns out when you get hungry enough, even the second tier quality offerings become acceptable. Sustenance is sustenance. Until it runs out completely, and all that is left are inedible leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers, take a deeper look into picture #2 (I’ve labeled them for your convenience – you’re welcome). See all those black dots?

Poop.

Caterpillar poop.

Leftovers.

Not all of that fennel is going toward the growth of these little fellas, which is no great surprise, right?

Everybody poops.

Hang on – I’m making a point – I think.

Let’s pull in picture #3. For metaphorical continuity’s sake, I WISH this were an emergent swallowtail or that the caterpillars were monarchs, but oh well. You take what life gives you to work with. Anyway, after the greens are devoured to the nubs, after the indigestible is excreted, after the caterpillar splits its skin and becomes chrysalis, you eventually get the butterfly. But even here, there are leftovers.

Leftovers.

Consume, consume, consume… there are still leftovers.

Grow, grow, grow… but not all that is consumed contributes to growth. Leftovers

Change, metamorphosize, become something completely different…

Emerge.

Something will always be inedible, shat, shed, sloughed, left behind.

Leftovers.

And so, I restock the fennel for the babies, set the adult on the honeysuckle to start the cycle all over again, and pray…

pray…that what I set free is worth more than what he leaves behind.

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#SoCS comes from the website of Linda G. Hill.

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.