Because Tiger was wild for the first 8 months of her life, and because she is still basically an outdoor cat, my husband has really encouraged me to take her outside every day so that she will have the "morale-boost" of feeling grass beneath her paws and being able to sniff fresh air every day. As a result, I too have been experiencing a morale-boost! Spending at least an hour outside twice a day, just squishing my own toes into the grass and sniffing fresh air of my own while I'm watching my little cat, I've found such a renewed love for the outdoors. So, I am truly enjoying the experience of sitting outside on our porch swing, or on a lawn chair, with one eye on my little cat to make sure she's safe, and one eye either drifting shut in the sunshine, or else watching the birds, bees and butterflies fly by.
And speaking of birds, bees and butterflies, yesterday morning as I sat with my cat, something amazing happened - something, I would have totally missed out on if I'd been inside. The butterflies began to dance! One after another, the butterflies began to arrive and soon our front lawn and the flowers situated there became landing posts for at least a dozen monarch butterflies. They danced in the air, they feasted on flowers, they drifted and spun around, only to land one more time for a banquet of flower nectar.
And there I was, caught in the middle of their dance, bubbling over with delight at what I was seeing! There were monarchs on my right and monarchs on my left, monarchs above me, and monarchs chasing down near my feet. And all at once as I began to laugh with joy, I discovered I was no longer a spectator, but a participant in their dance! They landed on my head and swirled around my face and danced off again to twist and twirl together in the sky.
For three-quarters of an hour I danced with the butterflies, me and my camera - because YES for once I actually had my camera with me at just the right moment! I'm convinced Tiger thought I was losing my mind. She looked at me quite cross-eyed when I returned breathless and enraptured to sit by her side. But what an amazing experience to be transported for a brief moment in time, into a butterfly's world! I don't know if the butterflies will be back tomorrow. I suspect they are getting ready to migrate and that is why they were so active today. But if I never see them again, I am so thrilled I will always have the memory of this butterfly dance!
This last picture has nothing to do with butterflies, it's a picture of the full moon rising over our house last night. I've taken it especially for Purple Cow to thank her for bringing the full moon to my attention and to let her know I really was thinking about her watching the full moon way over in Greece while I was watching it here in Canada. And who knows, a full moon is a rather magical thing, so maybe it is linked in some way to the magic of my butterfly experience today.
