"Mama Woolly swept and thought, and thought some more again,
And decided to let Dusty go
With Baby Bug, his friend.
And though she didn't want to miss the family barbeque,
She knew she SHOULD stay home and rest.
All Dusty'd said was true.

'Dusty...(HiC!)', Mom said to him,
'You'd better go get ready!'
And they all laughed at once
When she hiccupped out his name.
Then Mom made lunch while Dusty
Brushed his hair and teeth and boots
(Seven pairs of them for fourteen feet,
And every one the same).

Well, it wasn't long 'til Dusty stood
All dressed up in the doorway,
Looking out across the fields a country mile.
And across the coastal morn,
A golden sea of autumn corn
Waved gently at our Dusty with a smile.

Mama came to Dusty's side as he looked out from the porch,
And slipped the lunch she'd made into his hand.
"You've a goodly way to go from our home in little Pungo,
But GOOD Woollies will remember not to eat the crops of Man."

Okay, Mama.", Dusty smiled,
And peeked into his lunch,
And pulled himself up quickly by his bootstraps!
'Cause he never told his Mama how he hated aster leaves,
And an aster sandwich lay there in his knapsack!

Well, he wouldn't make a fuss,
He decided there and then.
He would be a grown-up Woollybear for all that he was worth.
So he promised not to touch the crops,
And Mama kissed his forehead, saying,
'Mama can't be with you,
So stay close to Mother Earth.'

She tapped the grass beneath her foot,
And HE knew what she meant.
That roads of Man are NOT for little Woollybears at play.
"Stay on the grass where Nature can protect us from much harm.
Ooops!
It's getting late!
So here's a hug!
You'd best get on your way!'

So, Dusty swung his knapsack back on caterpillar shoulders,
And thinking of the feast he'd have once there,
He scuffled down the road in fourteen caterpillar boots
'Til he had scuffs on every boot of every pair.

While many, many miles away,
Dusty's Uncle Squirmy
Was busy barbequing maple leaves.
Dusty's Dad was there helping Auntie hang the streamers,
While Granny hung pinatas from the eaves.

Were they thinking of his Mom and him,
The little 'pillar wondered,
As they took the decorations from the shelf?
Oh, how suprised they'd be, when he arrived, to see
That he'd traveled all that way,
And by himself.