Molly's Butterfly

Weeks and weeks ago, my daughter Molly found an interesting green caterpillar by Grandma and Grandpa's RV, and since she was studying butterflies in school, she kept it. She took it to school to display it next to the Monarch caterpillars they had in their class room. It predictably turned into a chrysalis, and then nothing happened! The butterflies in Molly's class room all emerged and were released, and I figured this one had just gone on to caterpillar heaven somewhere.

My dad, a bug expert, was still in town, and he said to hang onto it, that sometimes these can stay unhatched for quite a while. So, our little cage has been sitting in our laundry room for weeks, and I sort of forgot about it, until on Monday night when I was doing laundry and looked down to find a butterfly sitting in there!
Kelly woke Molly up (it was about 1:00 a.m. when we discovered it) and she was very excited! The next morning Molly and I looked up "Oregon butterflies" on Google to try to figure out what it was, and it turns out the Oregon Swallowtail is the Official Insect of our fair state. She then took it to school, and Mrs. Bierly lent us her butterfly "cage" so it would have some space to move.That evening Molly called Grandpa to tell him all about it. They decided Molly should try to keep it alive in captivity until it warms up outside in the spring. So there you go. This little butterfly has brought our home some excitement and joy this week, and I can think of three times (at least) that I suggested we just chuck the "dead" cocoon!

Maybe I should reconsider some other things that I've long considered dead and hopeless...God may have some surprising plans...