The monarch butterfly.
This insect has always caught my imagination and marvel. Since childhood when I used to collect the caterpillars in a jar and watch them transform into a winged being that defied logic.
To think this fragile, creature makes a trip that most of us wouldn’t consider without an airplane every year baffles the human mind.
These days one end of the flower bed is dedicated to the milkweed that the caterpillars require as sustenance – this year the dozen or so plants were host to more than a half a dozen of the larvae as they chowed down to acquire the energy required to make their change.
Although each did make the magical metamorphosis, I thought I’d missed them all until one afternoon I came out and this individual was sitting on the front walk.
Quiet observation became enthralling participation.
