The Visitor

Late one night I was working at my computer desk and this moth flew right past my face and landed on a folder. It startled me. It must have come into the house when I went outside with Carl before bedtime. Since mine was the only light that was on in a dark house it was naturally drawn to my desk.
Pretty little thing. I looked it up in the field guide and I'm sure it's a Tiger Moth of some kind; maybe a "spotted" one. I should have caught and taken it outside but I didn't. I just finished what I was doing, turned the light off and went to bed. Now, I can't find it.









Maybe tonight it will come flying toward the lamplight, again, and I can help it find its way back outside where it belongs. Did you know that moths can hear? They have a "hearing" organ, called a Tympanum, on each side of the thorax. Amazing! Was he listening to me.


He (I'm guessing..., it could be a "she") stayed for a long time and even when I touched him he stayed. We had a "moment" this moth and I. Even when I least expect that something will happen..., something does.
It might be what Mary Oliver refers to as the "greatest gift"....,"Could it be the world itself?"...,"That you have a life that I wonder about more than I wonder about my own." and her instructions for living one's life:
"Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it...."