School has started so that means back to the butterfly garden. Summer has left it overgrown and in need of attention.
On Friday my student Avalyn and I got to work. Here she is with a mammoth sunflower we planted in the spring.
I started picking up the layers of mown grass around the edge of the planter box. I uncovered a nest of eggs.
Avalyn and I, along with a few curious teachers, began a quest to find out what these eggs were.
They wouldn’t be bird eggs. Bird eggs are hard and round and usually in trees with an attending mother bird.
What about turtle eggs? Turtles usually dig a hole, and they lay near water.
Lizards? Too big.
We finally landed on the scariest option, snakes.
With my cell phone flashlight, Avalyn (Unlike her teacher, she didn’t mind touching and handling the egg.) candled the egg. Candling is a way to see inside the egg. She showed her classmates. We could see the embryo and veins and a shadow of a swirl.
I know that having a garden is good for the social and emotional needs of gifted students (all students, actually) but I hadn’t prepared myself for the possibility of snakes.
I’m relieved to report that the eggs were hatched or eaten, certainly not viable, come Monday morning.
Reflections on the Teche 