A few weeks ago my granddaughters saw a Monarch Butterfly land on a bush in their backyard. Their mother knew that Monarchs
liked milkweed for a reason… and sure enough, upon inspection, they found that some of the leaves contained a tiny white dot on the underside of the leaf. There was only one dot per leaf, and this, my three-year-old granddaughter Matilda told me was a “Butterfly Egg!”
I have to admit that, initially, I was a bit skeptical… but a few days later when I stopped by, there was a very tiny worm-like creature crawling around the leaf, and Lydia, the five-year-old, said: “See Pop Pop, it’s a caterpillar and it’s eating the leaf.” Sure enough little tiny holes in the leaf confirmed what she said was 
true. For the past two weeks, I have been stopping over to see the magical transformation from a tiny egg to mini caterpillar to a larger and larger and very hungry caterpillar, to one of the more magical transformations you will ever see… a caterpillar transforming to a Chrysalis and soon… the most magical transformation of all, to a Monarch Butterfly. I must say, each stage is full of surprises and seeing it all happen through my grandkids’ eyes is really amazing to watch.
Last week in my blog, I wrote about the adults in the audience at my show, Miracles & Other Deceptions, seeing the magic through the eyes of children. And it’s true… it really happens. Just this week Julie, who had come to my show last month, made a return visit and this time she brought her mom and dad along with her to see the show. A review she posted on TripAdvisor this week reads in part: “I loved the show so much that I brought my parents the following month. We spent days after talking about the show and saying “how did he DO that?!” My 83-year-old father was like an eight-year-old boy on Christmas day. I highly recommend this unique experience like no other!”
There is nothing more magical than nature… and both nature and magic have the power to turn an 83-year-old or even a Pop Pop into a kid again. I’m betting that when my granddaughters see that butterfly come out of the Chrysalis that too will be one of those magical moments that they will remember for the rest of their lives. This Pop Pop is just glad to be there watching and sharing the magic with them.
