Pop! goes the maggot?

Inspiration

By Charles Towne

My dear old mama’s exact words and I can hear them yet, were, “Charles, what in the world are you doing?”

No sooner did I hear those words then mama grabbed me by an ear and I was led/dragged to the house where I received an almost lethal bath.

Baths of the type I am speaking of should be listed as parental abuse or at least cruel and unusual punishment.

The sort of bath I am speaking of is the type where muriatic acid and wire brushes are called into play! (That might be a slight exaggeration but not by much.)

You might very well wonder just what could have precipitated such a drastic reaction from my usually gentle, dear, sweet, loving mama, so if you insist I will tell you.

And so that you will understand my sordid tale the better, and For those of you that don’t know me very well, I must admit to possessing a strange and somewhat perverted, or according to some human persons, an overactive curiosity for as long as I can remember.

Mama had discovered me out behind the barn on our little farmstead where I was studiously satisfying my little boy curiosity by picking maggots off a slightly dead, sun-ripened, putrid, exceedingly odoriferous fowl of the chicken kind that had died from some mysterious malady the previous week. The examining of said deceased barnyard fowl wasn’t what riled my mother’s wrath but my popping said maggots between my little boy fingers was.

In my defense, you should know that at the time of this little episode in my innocent little boy-hood, I was about four years old, and you should also know that I have never met a critter of any sort, large, small, dead or alive that I couldn’t learn from.

What I learned that day (All in the name of science mind you) was that if a maggot is held between the thumb and forefinger, and just the right amount of pressure is applied, said maggot will explode with a tiny, a very little, minuscule, “POP!” (Try it some time but not when your mama, your wife, future wife or boss is around.) I suppose, all things being equal, that the tiny, very little, minuscule, “POP!” is a lot louder to the maggot, but then perhaps not, because I don’t know if maggots have ears?

It is really quite remarkable that our wonderful Papa God, having caught us playing with some pretty nasty things in our lives, (and you know what I am talking about so don’t try to deny it!)

Yes, not only did He catch us but then He promised to wash us clean, “Whiter than snow,’ and on top of that He loves us with an undying and endless love! Come to think about it, I don’t really suppose we can blame Him for asking, “And just what in the world are you doing now?”

Live fully,

Love openly,

Trust God, and make a difference, today.

Charles Towne is first and foremost a Christian. An octogenarian, author, journalist, wildlife photographer, naturalist, caregiver, and survivor, his life has been and continues to be, a never-ending adventure filled with possibilities never imagined. He has adopted the philosophy that to Live fully, laugh uproariously, love passionately, and learn like there is no tomorrow, is a formula for a long and joy-filled life.