Lessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

These words belong to Rachel Carson, one of the nation’s preeminent advocates for environmental conservation, from her article, Help Your Child to Wonder, published in 1956.

For me, this adult was my Aunt Helen. My mother’s baby sister was cool when I was a kid. She didn’t behave like the other adults; she wasn’t as tired as they always complained of being; she never enforced bedtime; and best of all, she could DRIVE!

And drive, she did.

Late at night, she would tell me, “Hop in the truck,” double-check the spotlight, and slowly pull out of the drive. This was special time, treasured time, in some sort of sacred space where wide-eyed girls in cotton nightgowns got to cruise the woods searching for deer and fox, owls and bears.

She didn’t have to tell me to be quiet; I was too busy listening to the sounds of the dark.

As we rode along the railroad tracks, past the tobacco fields and timber forests of my ancestral homeland, I hoped for wildlife, rare and wonderful, while the neighbor’s hounds bayed in response to our presence.

On Aunt Helen’s cue, I was allowed to turn on the spotlight to scan whatever lay before us.

“Shining eyes, shining eyes, please let there be shining eyes!” was my midnight prayer on patrol.

Almost forty years later this remains my prayer, when I walk the gardens and the Hackberry Trail at the National Butterfly Center: Let me see what I know sees me.

I am grateful to my Aunt Helen for fanning the flames of my childhood imagination into a lifelong fascination with wildlife; for taking me into the outdoors, over and over, again; for planning adventures and paying for gas, kayaks, guides, airfare, cabins, hikes, passes and more…then, for me, and now, for my children.

Thanks to Aunt Helen, I marvel at nature, rather than fear it; I respect and appreciate the brilliance of design, the connectedness of all creatures, the rhythm of the seasons and the richness of this planet. What a privilege to be that adult for a child—for many children—and to help them also discover the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

Photo copyright Deborah Richie