Facing a Fear

I tolerate bugs and spiders and other creepy things pretty well. BUT, I find centipedes and green tomato worms quite disagreeable. I think the centipede thing comes from an experience on a farm one time when a guy forked up some loose hay in the barnyard. It seemed to me (a child of about 5 or 6) that there were hundreds of centipedes scurrying around underneath that hay. I don't know about the tomato worms except that they're made out of green juice. Did you ever throw one into a chicken pen and see the green juice squirt everywhere? Yep. That's it. Well, this summer I planted a few tomatoes in a tub. I looked at them one day and wondered why one of them looked so awful. While looking closely, I finally saw why. A big green tomato worm was clinging to a stem! At first I almost freaked out. Then I decided to look him over real close. Do you know that they have legs? When he was hanging on the bottom of a stem, I saw about 4 or 5 sets of bright yellow legs (not feet) curved around the stem. He also had eyes and a funny mouth with tiny teeth. Of course he had the hook and the "eyeballs" on the sides of his body. I looked at him every day for weeks. Then one day he was gone. Did he go do whatever they do this time of year, did a cat get him, did a bird get him? I have to admit I felt a little sorry he was gone. I don't think they are so disgusting after all!