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I love sharing my wisdom every issue in "Ophelia's Last Word." But being the oldest and wisest buggy in the magazine can be a lot of pressure for one grasshopper. Sometimes I daydream about a more carefree life—I could play pranks like Spider, try out acrobatic stunts like Sonya, or just wiggle adorably like Thistle. 

When I read the Juan Bobo stories in this month's Spider, I was pleased to discover the section about "noodleheads"—characters known for making silly mistakes. That's it, I thought! I must get in touch with my noodlehead side.

So I searched my library for stories about other noodleheads and found this book of Turkish folktales about a character named Hoja (sometimes spelled "Hodja"). Hoja may appear to be silly and foolish, but his words contain a hidden wisdom. In my favorite tale, "Pumpkins and Walnuts," Hoja sits beneath a walnut tree. He thinks nature made a terrible mistake in forcing enormous pumpkins to grow from the ground, while puny walnuts are allowed to sprout from a tall, mighty tree. But when a walnut hits him squarely on the head, he decides that maybe nature was right after all. (Would you rather get hit on the head with a pumpkin or a walnut?)

What I've learned from these tales is that silly doesn't mean stupid, and that wisdom comes in all shapes, sizes, and senses of humor. I treasure my position as the oldest and wisest buggy, and I'll continue to share my wisdom, but don't be surprised to see a glimpse of Ophelia the Noodlehead every now and then!