The Butterfly Dance

I've seen more red-spotted purples this year than I have any other butterfly. I do not know the reasons why this is, but I am always happy to see them. The red-spotted purple and white admiral are two forms of the same species, Limenitis arthemis, which I find quite interesting.

On this particular day, I never left our property. This is a thing that seldom happens. I sat in the yard and read my book. I hung out with the cat. I watched for hummingbirds and heard but did not see one; soon they will be gone.

While I was watching for hummingbirds, this lovely butterfly showed up, and of course, I pursued it, with camera. It sat down in a spot in the yard, and there it stomped around for several minutes.

It was friendly enough that I was able to get very close to it and take quite a few pictures of what looked like a butterfly dance. (In actuality, I'm sure it found something very tasty there.)

I chose this photo because I thought it showed both sides of the butterfly's wings well. Here is also a prior shot of the full-open-wings view, for your enjoyment.

The song for this day . . . well, I learned some sad news this morning. Don Williams, the gentle giant of country music, passed away on this day. I grew up listening to his music. So I checked my blip-records (yes, I keep a blip-spreadsheet!) and discovered that I have never featured my favorite Don Williams song on these pages.

I think that I was saving the song for something very special. And I guess a butterfly dance is pretty special. So here is Don Williams, singing one of my favorite love songs, Till the Rivers All Run Dry. Just this morning, I discovered a marvelous Alison Krauss cover of this beautiful love song, so I'm including that as well. Enjoy.

Here are prior blips that featured Don Williams' wonderful smooth voice:
(With Emmylou Harris) If I Needed You
Sing Me Back Home, a cover of a Merle Haggard tune
Maggie's Dream