Spring is Here! I Know Because of Butterflies

There are so many harbingers of Spring…warm air kissing your face, the sun beaming just a bit brighter, last patches of snow melting, animals and people are just a bit flirty-er, and oh the intoxicating scent of a profusion of orange tree blossoms if you’re lucky enough to reside in California, Florida, or Southern Spain 🙂 But this year, I rang in the season of renewal with less of a bang! and more of a flutter.

Newly Hatched Butterflies

You see, my timing for visiting my sister and her kids couldn’t have been better.  They had a project whereby you house several dozen caterpillars and give them proper lighting, temperature, munchies and even a place from which to hang, suspended in the cocoons they retreat to…and we all know what magic happens next! Voila…butterflies!  The most amazing example of a real cycle of life and its stages.  I think these particular ones were painted ladies, as opposed to the larger, though also bright orange and black monarchs.  I happened to have the good fortune of being present on “Butterfly Release Day” which, appropriately landed on the first weekend of Spring.

Spring Scene!

With the kids milling about excitedly…OK OK, I’ll admit it, I was milling too!…we gently opened the tops of the delicate enclosures and watched as some butterflies immediately sensed freedom and clear skies, while others had to be gently coaxed out to their new gloriously grand environment.  All but one fluttered energetically up up up into the wild blue..and the one who needed a bit more “baking”, so to speak, was gently placed on a flower where she was photographed mercilessly 😀  My sis and I like to call them “flutterbys”…as that is precisely what they do!  I hope you enjoy these photos and remember to stop and deeply inhale the flowers of Spring (not just smell them!) and wish every butterfly you see a safe and wondrous journey.

(All photos by G. Stark)