Beauty IS in the Eye of the Beholder

Well, last night I decided that it was time to start taking care of the veggies that were ready in my garden. Now, let me say that being that it is my first official year gardening I have not been the best at taking care of all my produce. I forgot that certain veggies need to be dusted or sprayed for things like larva, bugs etc. So, never the less I found some unexpected creatures when I went to collect the broccoli and cabbage. WORMS!

Immediately I wanted to curse, but I screamed instead. This caused my 4 year little guy Chris to come running over. "What mom," he says. So I showed him the hundreds of eggs and numerous little green worms. "That is so cool! Can I have them?" he continued. I wanted to ask if he was kidding, but by the look on his face I knew that he was serious and excited as a 4 year old could be. So, I continued to collect the broccoli and cabbage with their worms and all and carry them into the house.

Chris grabbed a bucket, tossed some veggie leaves in and said, "I need them all. They turn into the pretty butterflies." He tossed the bucket on the counter and headed off to play a bit more. I on the other hand spent the next 3 hours de-worming, cutting cleaning and packaging veggies. When I was done Chris had a nice collection in his bucket

and my freezer was starting to look a bit more colorful.

I will say that a few thoughts traveled through my mind as I was working. Some of them include...
*Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
*I wish I was excited about worms as Chris.
*Next year I will powder and spray for critters.
*I wonder if my food from the store, Farmer's market etc. has worms that I just don't know about.
*Thank the good Lord that we have people smart enough to figure out how to make and when to apply products to make our food sources safe.

...and then my dimmly lit light bulb of a brain after hours of picking realized that as frustrated that I am about my small inconvience in my garden it is nothing compared to the stress and constant battle that our farmers (organic and non-organic) and ranchers face each and every day in order to keep our crops and livestock healthy so that it is safe for our consumption.

So, in honor of the WORMS, I thank Chris for seeing a silver lining and finding some fun in my frustration and I thank all that work to make the food in the USA the safe!