Woolly bears

Yesterday Jeff and I walked around the local reservoir.  Lovely weather.  It was also time for the woolly bear migration.  I have always loved the way Jeff saves earthworms from drowning after a hard rain  Yesterday we both rescued woolly bear caterpillars from being squished by shrieking children, run over by cyclists.  The Farmer*s Almanac says that the woolly bear*s red-brown middle stripe signals the kind of winter we are going to have.  Everyone seems to be predicting a hard winter.  The woolly bear promises a mild winter.  This is a much more appealing prospect.  

We walked around the reservoir.

Sure we watched the occasional bird,

But really

We saved woolly bears

From the children who shrieked

Poisonous caterpillars.

We were afraid the woolly bears,

The ones who made their way across the footpath,

Would never make it across

Alive.

We sped up,

Moved sufficiently ahead

Of the children and their parents.

We saved the furry caterpillars,

The ones who promise mild winter

With their wide red-brown stripe.

We figured they should have a chance

To find shelter from the cold to come.

Woolly bears.

We must have saved twenty of them.

It mattered

to each and every one.