September 2002 The Megaphone Page 4
Just a fragile thing known as "Lli’l White Feather Walking" . . . ???
I was reading in the upper bedroom of our cabin two hours north of Bogotá, Columbia, I noticed this crazy "feather" walking along the railing of the porch outside the room. Moving out for a closer look, I soon enticed her to climb onto my finger, then, hurried to my two companions so they, too, could appreciate the fragility and mystery of this animal. They did, and I did, and two of us continued to track her whereabouts day by day.
She seemed to have 3 short pair of tiny feet in front and 5 pair of sturdy, short, tubular legs to the rear. She walked with a soft ripple from back to front and could walk backwards by lifting her head and tucking back. Then all legs shifted to reverse. We admired her versatility. She finally stopped for the night at 5 p.m. on the stem of the purple plant to the southwest of the upper porch and slept until 7:30 a.m. I followed this small creature through a day spent mostly in reading and reflecting. Li’l Feather meandered over the stem, then, up the house and down the house looking for what? She explored the pots on the shelf painted yellow; the gray pot and the clay pot were explored with her mouth. We wondered if she saw, and if she heard the dog barking. What do you seek, dear quiet seeker? My wisdom said to you at times, "Oh, no!" You don’t want to go back to that window frame. Been there, done that. And, once again she went back. Then, up the window she went. What were you teaching me, my dear? And, she, in the upper right corner of the window bumped into and gently disturbed a moth that appeared to be plastered with sesame seeds. This animal was just resting there but moved over, making room for li’l white feather to go down the green frame. But, did she? Nope... Up the white wall she went again. Been there, done that. (How many times do I follow a path retracing my steps?)
And then, what a drop! From the shelf to the patio floor and off again into the grasses. She brought home to me the power of "making haste slowly." She seemed to be lost. (Or is it I who is lost?) Then, she went through the hedge of the driveway and out onto the other side, dizzily riding on a long, skinny lily frond, reached the end of the blade, and oh! oh! No place to go but back! Her feet wanted to go back, but she turned around as she had done on other courses. I chanted to myself, "head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes!" Hmmmm...where do you go from here? Drop it was, a soft drop, onto the grasses of the driveway. She paced the shadow of the car, and finally climbed from the midpoint of the tire to the hubcap and stopped to rest at 2 p.m., a rest that took her to 10 a.m. - 20 hours!
From 10 a.m. the next day, li’l white-feather-walking, in spite of several rests, crossed the driveway and climbed on the outer edge to the 5th step of the stairs. After several pauses and what appeared to be much deliberation, she explored the large, rectangular, clay planter under the stairs. She moved deeper into the lily plant around 5 p.m., and sometime in the night must have moved to the side of the clay base. At 9 a.m. she woke up and moved about, but did not leave the site. Swaying in the breeze, she consumed a whole 5 mm of her leaf base in 2 hours. Her pattern of behavior seems one day to wander, one day to rest, one day to eat. (What is protecting this animal without camouflage?) At 2:45 p.m. on this 4th day, she rested on a dry narrow leaf, was restless between 3 and 4 p.m., and finally settled on a narrow green leaf, dangling on its very tip.
On this fifth day, she continued to dangle. At around 11 a.m., she fell off or dropped off. (Were you weak or wise?) All day she "slept" on the patio floor. 6th day, our departure day, she was still there, scarcely moving. For me, a symbol of hope (for her/for me) was the white bud that burst forth from the plant in the planter under the stairs. I gently lifted her onto a piece of white paper and put her back on the mother plant, a trillium. I am thrilled at this sign of resurrection and predict that the next folks who visit this sacred place, if they take time to look, might see a white cocoon, and, what wonder will emerge. Any clue?
If you have read this far (and even if not), love to you.
Margaret E. Kiefer '42
Note: Margaret Kiefer, Dick Cleaver's sister-in-law, taught biology in high school for twenty years, then followed her calling to work in peace and justice, and is ministering today to the poor of Bogotá, Columbia.