How butterflies showed me the way

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

-Henry David Thoreau

The summer of 2020 was quiet and lonely. It was the butterflies that lead me to the sunny side of life. A walk to irrigate crops was easily rerouted by the sight of a butterfly. I was curious to learn what plant they were visiting, hoping to maybe see a chrysalis. The butterflies took me to the Wingstem and Rabbit Tobacco plants, plants that were probably here for many years and I had not noticed before. I discovered little nooks and crannies on the farm, saw a rare Blue Indigo bird, and discovered new patches of Elderberries.

Now summer is slowly saying its goodbyes, not quite letting go of a few occasional warm days. A few tomatoes are still clinging on the vines, the pullets started laying eggs, the air is crisp in the mornings, and the long hours of light are sadly weaning. The leaves are just beginning to turn, late this year. Maybe because our temperatures are warmer but I want to believe it is late to prepare for a gorgeous display that will lighten this dark year of pandemic. Butterflies, colorful and graceful, dainty little creatures still flutter about, not having left on their migration. 

Having emerged from a cocoon of darkness and isolation a butterfly lifts off from a flower, its fragile beauty on display. Perhaps we need to go to this place were caterpillars grow their wings. A place to find something beautiful, to become gracious and kind, to reroute our thoughts to sunshine because we all deserve some happiness. I am grateful for this dark time to slow down, rest, and gather my thoughts again. And when I see the first early spring Mourning Cloak butterfly, I will know the lovely Monarchs are on their way north from Mexico.