I put together a little terrarium-like thing several weeks ago. It’s made in an old plastic cage that my daughter and I had used for roly-polies in the past.

First, I laid down a layer of gravel. On top of that I added some potting soil, making a small area slightly higher than the rest by using a couple of rocks to retain a pocket of soil. For greenery, I picked up four small plants at a nearby nursery and grabbed a little moss from a tree I happened to walk by. Part of a cracked-open geode and a piece of broken glass make up the rest of the landscape.

I placed a little bluebird I got from my sister at Christmas on one of the rocks. Awhile ago, I lightly buried a few apple seeds and one of them is now a little two-inch sprout. Today, before taking the above picture, I added old Yellowjacket himself. Now a stoic robot stands atop a smooth rock, looking out over a jungle wet with recent rain.