I’m stealing a few minutes in late afternoon to get my entry for today written.  I’m in the tower with a towel over my head to block the bright sunlight so I can type.

 

 Tonight we’re having some folks over for dinner then going up to Bolton to set off some (legal) fireworks to mark the end of the Voices movie filming.   It feels  important for me  to mark the end of the movie.. the coming end of summer.. the beginning of school.. Max’s return to college. Everything seems so much more significant and weighty. Weighty is the right word.. nothing feels light anymore. It’s hard to describe.. even sitting outside n a beautiful day like  we had yesterday and today.. my heart is heavy… I can enjoy but not  in-joy..   if that makes any sense. I think that’s how it will be for a long time.. maybe forever. It’s very, very hard to get used to..  I’m hoping  this feeling will evolve into something more livable over time..

 

I was thinking of this a little when I saw the big caterpillar on our hike yesterday. Here he is again.

 

Diane did some sleuth work and discovered that she was a  Cecropia caterpillar on her way to being a giant Cecropia Moth .

 just like the one we saw on David K’s porch in the spring. . It’s the largest moth in North America. We learned something magical about caterpillars at the Deepak Chopra talk last weekend. He told us about new thinking regarding the cell workings behind the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies or moths. Evidently   there are special cells called ‘imaginal’ cells in the caterpillar’s body that are ignored  until the caterpillar approaches the end of it’s caterpillar-y life. At that point the imaginal cells start to reproduce. At first they are attacked by the caterpillar’s immune system. But they soon grow so quickly that they overtake the failing immune system and start combining to form larger structures.. As the metamorphic process progresses, the new cells metabolize the old parts of the caterpillar to produce completely  new parts of the moth or butterfly.. i.e. the nervous system of the butterfly has no relation to the nervous system of the caterpillar..   Chopra (and many others) use this as an analogy for social change. I.e.  how a few people with strong ideals  can change the world.  Here’s one of those ‘social change’ analogies And here’s a scientific one if you prefer..  

I look at it as a very cool  parable for reemergence and rebirth .

I really have been feeling blue the last week. I’m finding it much harder to focus on anything but Sam and my family. I know there are many changes happening now.. and I guess I’ll work my way through them. One thing that always helps me when I’m feeling this is making things…   Last night Max, Jessie, Travis and  I started experimenting with hot air balloons. My mom saw someone launch some down at the Cape.. and I decided to try some myself. The basic idea is pretty simple.. You create a large balloon structure out of something very light such as tissue paper or a plastic garment bag.. then you suspend a  source of heat.. like an alcohol soaked cotton ball… underneath the balloon to heat the air. If the air is cool and still the balloon will slowly rise into the air carrying the flame with it.. it’s a magical effect. Supposedly, it will not come down until the fuel is exhausted.. but I still would only recommend doing this over water.. or at least after a heavy rain.   Last night the four of us experimented with different design styles.

Jessie and I made a box out of 5 pieces of tissue paper glue sticked together.

Max made a cool cylinder with a nifty aluminum foil burner suspended from it.

Travis made a nice three sided pyramid..

We went out side and tried them in the cool damp air last night.. In the end.. only the bx one worked.. the cylinder proved to be a bit too heavy.. and the pyramid caught fire (rather spectacularly) .

The box managed to lift off and slowly rose into the air until it was nearly out of sight over Robbins Mountain. We saw it start to land as the flame went out.. It was truly magical..  Here’s a movie of it rising.. but it was too dark to see much. Note at the end of the movie is another new invention of Max and mine.. this is a potatoe gun with soem steel wool attached to the potatoe.. The burning steel wool makes a trail of sparks.. Again.. do this only over water or pavement. pretty cool.

Maybe we’ll try some more tonight. We’ve been experimenting with a few new designs today.. I’ll keep you posted…

OK.. I gotta head downstairs now.. more tomorrow.

Bye all.. Bye Sam..

 

-me