Bugs.

About 14 years ago,

I went on a "first date" with a much younger but equally awesome and charming version of the man I now call my husband (some day I will write the whole story of how we met and the details of our first date.... it really is a fabulous story) and at the very end of the date he invited me in to his San Francisco flat to see his place and meet his house-mates.

As I walked into to Roger's room, I noticed the dramatic decor(which was a stark contrast to the his quiet and reserved demeanor) including an antique chandelier hanging from a vaulted ceiling, deer antlers on plaques above his doorway, black curtains over his bed and all sorts of assorted gothic treasures throughout.

I also noticed brightly colored blurs scattered across the walls.

(I should note that at the time, my eyesight was as bad and it is now but I refused to wear glasses for reasons of extreme vanity and painful ignorance to just how bad my vision really was).

At first I thought these blurs of color were dried flowers.

Upon closer inspection,

I discovered there were BUGS.

Dead and dried bugs.

Beautifully preserved, positioned and mounted on pins scattered throughout the walls of his room.

I was shocked.

I was equally intrigued.

My initial reaction was of girly squealing and an empty threat of fleeing the building.

Roger was undeterred by my squeamishness and quickly took to the task of educating me on his insect collection. He pointed out his favorites and filled me in on all the details..... the countries they were from, the type of insects they were and the method(really an art) used to dry them for display. I was quite shocked by how passionate he was about these bugs and was even more shocked to find myself deeply interested in all the details he was describing . I was amazed by how beautiful(if slightly icky) these intricate little bugs were.

For our second date, we went to one of Roger's favorite spots, San Francisco's natural history museum. During our trip there he made a point of bringing me to the insect exhibit where together we studied the walls of insects ranging from frighteningly large walking sticks of the rain forests to wonderfully decadent jeweled beetles while Roger shared his wealth of insect knowledge with me. I had seen the bug exhibit at the museum before but never really paid it any attention.

But as this delightfully enthusiastic man went on about the exquisitely complex beauty and nature of the insect world, I found my self utterly fascinated.

Like I had seen something very special for the very first time.

And I think that I had.

At the time, I had no idea, what adventures lie in wait for me.

That I would go onto marry that man about a year later.

That the insect world would end up playing a consistent part in our adventures together.

I NEVER would have imagined that there would be bugs incorporated into my wedding cake topper........

(which there was),

that I would eventually have a rhinoceros beetle and a colony of leaf insects as pets,

or that some day it would be perfectly routine and normal to have a jar containing a huge spider, a particularly interesting beetle or an angry wasp sitting on the kitchen counter on any given day.

That man-friend of mine, he like bugs.

A lot.

He is intrigued and inspired by them.

He often incorporates them into his art.

And brings them up in conversation.

In recent years he has even taught classes to the kids at our church about the amazing God-breathed beauty and purposes of the insect kingdom.

Strangely enough, bugs have become a familiar theme in my life. My children have been raised to value these little creatures and they consider him the coolest dad ever because of it. While I will never be quite as enthusiastic about bugs as roger, I have grown to enjoy them more than I ever would have expected.

The list of things I appreciate about my fabulously quirky man-friend is practically never-ending,

but,

one of my most favorite things about him is his ability to notice the beauty and order in things that you would least expect it from.