A Butterfly Garden Excursion
A Butterfly Garden Excursion
Although we had bicycled past numerous times, we had never stopped at the butterfly garden at our local park. When Mama and I went by last Friday and saw that the young mimosa were in bloom, I decided that Next Sister and I would have to come for a photography session.
What follows is largely an excerpt from my personal journal, since I have some difficulty writing about the same thing twice. The photographs illustrating this account were taken by my sister. You can see more of them here and here.
[Sunday, October 19, 2008]
“.... Sometime after noon, [my sisters, Littlest Brother] (in the wagon), and I walked to [the park], expressly to take photographs. Mama and I had seen some showy rattlebox, a bright yellow flower of the pea family, and the pink “powder-puffs” of mimosa blossoms, when we both went cycling last Friday. We went and found even more showy rattlebox blooming and found that they had a faint but sweet scent.
“We also identified beggar ticks, creeping Charlie, Spanish needles, and Devil’s potato with its dynamic form... After taking innumerable photographs we directed our steps to the eastern side of the park. As we came to where the canal divides the park we saw large flocks of muscovy ducks and white ibis. We crossed the bridge (whose steep curve gave me an exciting time with the wagon). As we approached the butterfly garden and gazebo where the mimosa trees were blooming, our excitement increased.
“We could see a flutter of butterflies busy over the flowers. Although we had bicycled past numerous times, we had never before stopped to explore. We—especially [Littlest Sister]—were enthralled by what we discovered. While we admired and sniffed flowers, butterflies, like mobile flowers, danced about our heads. We identified zebra long-wings, gulf fritillaries, brimstones, and monarchs. ‘What a beautiful day to be a butterfly!’ [Littlest Sister] breathed.
“The monarchs, whose coloring was especially brilliant, gathered nectar from equally bright butterfly weed. The others favored the rainbow of lantanas lining the entrance walk. [Littlest Brother] discovered that the wild sage, a white lantana, was fragrant. ‘Oh, smell this one!’ I crouched down and put my nose to the snowy clump. My nose was made wet with nectar, but the smell was so fresh and lovely!
“Our curious noses sampled many pleasures for the next half hour or so. (We lost track of time in our delight.) We found a bed of minty [blue flowers] in bloom and a large bunch of yellow flowers, both with sweet scents. The mimosas had no smell, but they tickled our faces. I lifted [Littlest Brother] up to try it, and we all decided that it was great fun and tried it again. Our favorite flower, though, we did not know. It was a deep purple with lighter, ruffled edges. Its winning characteristic was its candy-like scent, not quite like cotton candy. We came back often to ‘smell one more time.’
“While [Littlest Sister] and I strolled and discussed flora and fauna, and while [Littlest Brother] climbed (and leapt from) the large hunks of coral rock bordering the garden, [Next Sister] walked about, lost in a photographer’s wonder. We savored the dappled shade and the cool breeze sweeping over the nearby canal. Rest. Peace. Refreshment. Quiet. Wonder. e finally left home, but vowed to return soon armed with sketch books, colored pencils, lemonade, lemonade and snickerdoodles.... ‘I hope Heaven has a lot of flowers,’ [Littlest Sister] told me while still there, coming close for a hug. I smiled. ‘I am sure it does. He has given us so many that I am sure God must love them too!’”
We could not stay away very long, and, last Tuesday, we again walked to the park. This time all the children but Biggest Brother went, and we had two wagons—the supply wagon and the medical wagon (one brother sported a leg cast).
The air was heavily perfumed. Besides revisiting our favorite flowers, we introduced them to the newcomers. We also discovered red allamanda whose scent immediately transported me to the first house in which our family lived. Another new flower smelled of apple. We watched the monarchs battle over the butterflyweed, beating their wings against one another. We also examined a monarch caterpillar munch on fresh leaves. A friendly lawn-service man waved to get our attention and pointed out a huge iguana sunning himself across the canal.
We had a lovely time. We munched our cookies, sipped our lemonade, and wielded our pencils. We finally left for home an hour later, and everyone has since been begging to go back. I think the butterfly garden will be a new haunt of ours.
Photographs: Various. © A Still Small Voice, October 2008.
Friday, October 24, 2008