Jill's House and Garden

are cabinets of wonders -- cats, dogs, people, caterpillars, flowers, quilts that shimmer as if with breath.This little froggie sat so still by the pond, chilled, that Jill simply picked him up and brought him to me for a photo op. As

I turned from the enigmatic caterpillar to snap away, she said, "His little heart is beating rapidly," and I saw his little mouth open and close, open and close, as if he were chilled still, or afraid. But she said, "No, he's just cold."

There was time when a frog in the hand or a caterpillar on the wall would have made me turn in the other direction. Not now. They're beautiful, fascinating creatures, one a shimmering jewel, slithery and marbled, the other a mystery of feet that will be consumed into butterfly body, emerging like a lozenge from a miniature coconut, so hairy and spiny.

Jill's cabinet of wonders is a wonder to me.