The other day as I was sitting out on the front porch enjoying the beautiful weather, I noticed the yard man next door hanging shiny ribbons in the trees. Being the curious person that I am, I went over to see what was happening.

What are you doing?, I asked. (Sure enough it was George Burns doing His thing.) What does it look like?, he said. I'm hanging shiny ribbons in the trees, I can see that, I said. Why are you doing it? Someone needed cheering up, he grinned, So I came to do this personally.

You see, there is this butterfly that's feeling kinda down. It is the prettiest and biggest butterfly around here. People come from miles around to enjoy its beauty. There's only one small problem. The butterfly still thinks it is a caterpillar.

So even though she gets lots of compliments she still feels ugly. Once she saw her reflection in a drop of water when she was a larvae and it frightened her so she never looked at herself again.

Besides, butterflies cannot see their wings. They can only see their long thin legs and their round bodies. So to them they are still ugly. When they see other butterflies they are jealous of them and wish they could be like them instead of the ugly things they are.

So I am making what I call a magic tree, The ribbons I'm using are shinier at the top than at the bottom. So I've told the butterfly to use this tree to make herself beautiful. She is to start at the bottom, look at the ribbon and say Who is the prettiest butterfly of them all? By the time she gets to the top, she will see herself as she really is and accept her beauty.

People are a lot like her sometimes. They spend so much time fixing what they think isn't perfect, they cannot see their own beauty, just as they are. So I made rainbows to show people how beautiful they are. Next time you see a rainbow look real close and you will see yourself.

Just like the rainbow you have all the colors in your body (some people call them chakras) But wouldn't it be strange to see a rainbow with only one color? Same with you, you need to appreciate all of you not just some of you. And remember. rainbows look their best right after a storm. Too much sun and they fade away. So the next time it rains on your parade let your light shine. See ya kid!