Headless Worms

On a recent trip to the library, Box Turtle at Long Pond by William T. George caught my attention. It's another found-forgotten book I remember fondly from my childhood.* It was added to the top of our stack, the magical number seven. Box Turtle at Long Pond has been requested multiple times a bedtime and not for the amazing and detailed illustrations but for the headless worms. "As quickly as he can, the box turtle bites the heads off each squirming worm. Then he goes back to eat them, one by one."

I often write the softer side of nature. Beauty is also found in the brutality of survival and sometimes, as our box turtle learns when a raccoon eats his headless worms, in the brutality of defeat. Even still, the life of the box turtle is perfect as it is, and, by evening, he settles in to sleep with a fully belly.

Tonight find beauty in something you consider brutal, repulsive, or just plain mean. 

*Thank you, Mom, for those hours and hours of sitting together reading! I still love children's books the best.