Painted Lady on Lantana

As I may have mentioned, I work at Penn State, in the Outreach area. Our offices are located about two miles off campus, at Innovation Park.

Penn State does a wonderful job of beautifying our campus, and there are several planters - always full of seasonal displays - right outside the doors of our building.

On this particular morning, I noticed some colorful butterflies flying around the lantana blooms on the display.

This lovely painted lady (Vanessa cardui) posed prettily for me. What a special welcome to work!

This is my second butterfly blip in a row (please check out yesterday's comma too). Both feature the music of Tom Petty, as a tribute to the rocker upon the occasion of his passing.

For this was the morning that we woke up and learned that, really and truly, he was gone. Of course, the music I wanted to listen to on my drive to work was Tom Petty.

But when I put his Greatest Hits CD in my car's CD player, it would not play it! It was hard not to take it as some kind of special message. The song to accompany this image is about a very hard thing to do for those of us who were fans: Letting You Go.

In tribute and celebration, I'm including below links to all of my past blips that have featured Tom Petty songs. I'm linking the titles to the blips themselves; beneath each one is the Petty song link that that blip features.

Bluebird
Learning to Fly (with Stevie Nicks)

Butterfly, Night Guardian of the Green Peppers
Nightwatchman

September Sunset, Quehanna Wild Area
Free Fallin', with Axl Rose

Under the Dome, Take 2: The Interloper
Insider, with Stevie Nicks

Cedar Waxwing, Thief of Hearts
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, with Stevie Nicks

Daisy in the Sun
Wildflowers

The Dancing Girls: Apartment Living
The Apartment Song, with Stevie Nicks

Bunway Airlines Ready for Takeoff!
Learning to Fly, with Stevie Nicks

NUTS!
Here Comes My Girl

Sunrise Through the Red Elm in Mist
The Waiting
The Waiting, with Eddie Vedder
The Waiting, by Linda Ronstadt

Nittany Lion Inn: Two Interior Scenes
Straight Into Darkness

The Great Sycamore, Under Blue February Skies
Something Big

A Miracle Wrapped in Green with a Golden Zipper
The Waiting, with Eddie Vedder

Thank you for the music.