say hello to my little friend....

I decided with the weather getting cooler I was ready for some comfort food. Homemade butternut squash soup it would be. I wanted it a little spicy, so went to the patio to pick a pepper. I found this green guy hanging onto one of the stems. I almost picked him! He is a beautiful catterpiller, but I don't think I've ever seen one this big! Just to get a good perspective on how big this guy is...I took another picture with my arm in it. He is bigger and fatter than my middle finger! Probably weighs more than many newborns. Being that he is the size of many of those little pets that people call dogs (I think they are more of the rat varietal). I wanted to make him my new pet...I figured he's pretty low maintenance and since he really didn't mind me petting him I thought he'd be happy about the deal too. I came up with a couple names - Henry, Pepper, and Slim; however I wanted to sleep on it before committing to one. Often, pets' personalities come out as you get to know them and I wanted to make sure I named him appropriately. The soup turned out scrumptious and the rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but went to sleep with sweet dreams of my new pet and the many adventures we would have - picking out his first collar; going on long walks; playing catch; and driving around with his head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind.

This morning I was so excited to greet my new pet and made sure to visit him on the patio before jetting off to work. I bee-lined it to his home, but didn't see him. I mean I barely saw him the night before and even thought he was a pepper, so I looked all over the pepper plant, soil below, and even neighboring plants. Little Slim was gone! I knew he would one day turn into a beautiful butterfly and leave me, but overnight? A caterpiller that big would surely be a big butterfly and would need some time in his chrysallis! I looked up to see the several plump pigeons already collected on the telephone lines and was sure I heard one burp and lick his beak. Poor Slim! Looks like Thanksgiving came a little early for some...