KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:41PM Years ago when I was a new teacher and given to doing crazy things to excite the learners in my classroom,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:42PM I did a terrible thing and I knew I would have to work hard to get my students to forgive me.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:42PM I was teaching art to grades one through twelve and each day was a dead run from class to class and from one school to another.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:43PM I got to see my grade school kids once each week for forty minutes so
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:43PM I had a very short time to capture their interest and keep them excited about art.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:44PM Because I didn’t have the kids in my class every day, I struggled to build the sense of community
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:44PM that I wanted them to have while they were in my room. I started thinking that a mascot of some kind
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:44PM would help my students feel connected to my classroom. I didn’t know what would be best,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:44PM a rabbit, a mouse, a lizard or some other pet but I was spending a lot of time thinking about it.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:44PM As it turned out, fate would come to lend a hand in the near future.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:45PM I very much savored the time I got to spend with my wife and our pet dog and cat and in the evening we would walk together
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:45PM and talk about the day’s events. We were an odd family and it must have been funny to see my wife and I walking along,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:47PM One fall evening as we walked along, I noticed a dead butterfly and picked it up.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:47PM As we looked at this still beautiful insect, we noted a small tatter on one wing.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:47PM We wondered why it had died and after some discussion I couldn’t bring myself to put it back on the ground.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:48PM Eventually we decided to take it home. It’s not easy being married to an artist as we take a lot of strange things home
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:48PM I placed the butterfly in a box on the mantle when we got home before I washed my hands for dinner.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:48PM As many teachers do, I worked a second job on weekends to earn extra money and that Saturday,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:49PM I found myself scraping and painting a house twenty miles from home. As I worked in the chilly morning air
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:49PM I saw what might have been a solution to my mascot question. There on a nearby twig,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:49PM was a beautiful caterpillar. It was striped in bright colors and happily eating a leaf.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:49PM I thought this creature might just make a nice mascot and my kids could learn about insect life-cycles by watching it
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:50PM eventually emerge from it’s chrysalis. I collected it and took it home with me at the end of the day.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:50PM When I got home, I introduced the insect, I now called Harvey to my wife who approved of my plan.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:50PM I found a jar and placed Harvey inside with a few leaves and a twig.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:51PM That next Monday my students were excited to meet Harvey and were quick to become interested in the future transformations
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:51PM of this exotically-colored creature. I set him on a shelf, taking the opportunity to tell all of my classes
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:51PM Harvey attached himself to the twig and made his chrysalis. This was a very exciting happening at the time
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:52PM but once he was inside, he receded into the environment, giving way to the exciting paintings, drawings
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:52PM and ceramics that we created daily. I didn’t know what kind of creature I had in the jar.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:52PM Would he be a moth or a butterfly? We didn’t care, it was clear that the kids would love him no matter what he looked like.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:53PM I wondered how we would release him back into nature and thought that some sort of good-luck-Harvey ceremony might be appropriate.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:53PM The days passed and one morning when I arrived at school and checked Harvey’s jar, I noticed that something very big had happened.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:53PM Harvey was a butterfly and we had missed the whole event. Looking at the beautiful butterfly,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:53PM I noticed a problem, a big problem. Harvey was too big for the jar. His wings had extended as far
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:54PM as they could and hardened but they were still partially curled up. As the kids looked on,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:54PM we took him out and it was clear that his wings were going to be shaped oddly for his entire life span.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 01:54PM We were sad and kids asked what would happen to him. I told them I would take him home and see what we could do.
coolcatteacher says Jul 06, 2008 01:57PM Go ahead - although you're changing the face of microblogging! U rock, KH
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:00PM My wife too was sad when she saw Harvey, who now rode on my shirt, free of his jar.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:01PM “What will we do?” she asked. I don’t know, I said. I looked Harvey up in a book and found that he was a swallowtail.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:01PM I felt guilty, looking at the pictures of perfect butterflies in the book. He was different and would always be
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:01PM and he didn’t even know or seem to care. I began to worry about him though for I knew he had to eat
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:01PM and that he wouldn’t be flying from flower to flower, drinking nectar.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:01PM I thought about this for a long time and eventually decided to try to make him some home made butterfly food.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:02PM I mixed sugar and water and put it in a spoon. I then held him above the spoon and watched.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:02PM From the books I had learned that Harvey had a proboscis that he could use to insert into flowers and drink nectar.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:02PM It was long and coiled up but he extended it to probe and taste objects nearby in a short time he extended it into the waiting spoon.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:02PM He loved the sugar water and drank for some time. My wife and I were delighted
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:03PM to know that we had a butterfly that we could feed and that night he joined us on our walk.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:03PM Two people, a dog, a cat and a funny looking butterfly. We were an odd family indeed.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:03PM I updated my students and they were happy to know that Harvey was doing well. He lived in my house and I fed him and left nectar dishes
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:03PM where he could reach them when I was gone. From the books I learned that Harvey would have a short life of about thirty
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:04PM days and I intended to make sure that his would be as happy as possible. I was doing a lot of guessing about how to care for a butterfly
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:04PM but I like to think he enjoyed his walks with us and his time being a part of our family.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:04PM Then it happened, I had a thought, a crazy thought. It wouldn’t work, it couldn’t work, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:04PM The dead Monarch butterfly has wings, almost perfect wings and Harvey didn’t. I asked my wife one evening,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:05PM what would happen if I tried to attach these wings onto Harvey? You’re crazy, she said, you can’t do that,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:05PM how will you attach them? I thought about this for a while and said, superglue!
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:05PM What!, she said, good grief you’ll kill him! No I said, I’ll use a needle to apply a very small amount,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:05PM exactly where the wings attach. You’re on your own, she said, I don’t want to see the creation of a butterfly Frankenstein.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:06PM I was nervous! Was this a mistake? Was I crazy? How do you attach new wings to a butterfly?
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:07PM I thought about the procedure and how it might work. I would cut off Harvey’s wings but leave enough of the old wings to attach
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:08PM I’d have to keep him very still during the operation but once the wings were on,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:08PM I gathered the implements, super glue in a small lid, tweezers, a needle, scissors and the Monarch.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:08PM I carefully clipped each Monarch wing off, being careful to damage them as little as possible.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:09PM There was the issue of that small tatter in one wing but I felt that this set of wings was much,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:09PM much better than the wings Harvey wore. With everything in place, I began to operate.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:09PM I couldn’t immobilize Harvey, he was moving about I realized that such a precise set of maneuvers was going to be a challenge
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:09PM with a moving patient. I snipped off Harvey’s curled up wings one at a time, being careful
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:10PM to leave enough of a base to glue the new wings onto. Once his four wings were removed,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:10PM He was doing fine so far. Carefully I lined up the first of the Monarch wings.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:10PM I dabbed the end of it with a bit of superglue on the needle tip and placed it on
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:11PM what was left of Harvey’s wing nub. I blew on it gently and it stayed in place.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:11PM I then did the opposite wing in an effort to keep Harvey balanced. After this wing was affixed,
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:11PM I started his lower two wings. In a few minutes, Harvey was the proud owner-wearer of upgraded Monarch wings
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:11PM and what’s more, he was moving them. Up and down they moved as he tried them out.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:11PM I gave him a few minutes and with my wife looking at him with a mix of disbelief and startled amazement, Harvey jumped.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:12PM He flew about fifteen feet, to the other end of the living room before landing. I can’t believe that the Wright Brothers were any happier
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:12PM We took him outside and let him practice but none of his flights were longer.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:13PM I didn’t know if this was due to the tatter in one of the wings or the operation in general but her never flew
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:13PM We kept Harvey in our home, occasionally taking him outside and to school where amazed students looked him over
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:13PM in wonder at the Swallowtail who now now wore Monarch wings.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:13PM In his short life Harvey endured a lot. He was good natured, loved sugar water and seemed proud of his wings.
KevinHoneycutt says Jul 06, 2008 02:14PM I am now working on a children’s book based on this experience, parts of it on on this network. It is called: The Monarch of WillowWood.
njtechteacher asks Jul 06, 2008 02:21PM do you have photos of Harvey? What an amazing story. I wouldn't have had it in me to do the operation.
KevinHoneycutt shares Jul 06, 2008 02:23PM I'm looking through old VHS tapes, I have video somewhere of Harvey post op.
GingerLewman thinks Jul 06, 2008 02:30PM that it's time for you to finish your story. Esp if just the inspiration story gets this response.
KevinHoneycutt shares Jul 06, 2008 02:32PM I am uploading my preliminary illustrations and photos to flickr, I'll share the link.
KevinHoneycutt shares Jul 06, 2008 02:43PM Here is a link to some illustrations:www.flickr.com/photos/29716266@N00/
dmantz7 feels Jul 06, 2008 03:52PM the same as all of you fellow readers. This was powerful. Would be very interesting to have students create an ending of their own.
elainej says Jul 07, 2008 03:12AM this is a GREAT story for pre-service teachers so they can envision the possibilities of their craft
elainej says Jul 07, 2008 03:13AM but it's also a great story for the weary more experienced teachers who might need to be reminded of the lives they change every day
geoWIZard gives Nov 14, 2008 02:27PM Kevin Honeycutt the Prairie Passage Pathfinders award for his persistent power of example!
