The Girl Who Lingers with Butterflies

To be honest, I went to the Arboretum to visit the lily pond. Because while this week's weather has been quite warm, for this time of year, a cold front is coming. By Friday, temperatures will drop by 20 degrees F. Sunday morning, some parts of our region may see our first frost. So I wanted to visit the lily pond again, while it was still in its prime.

And I did that. And it was beautiful. But then I wandered into the fragrance garden, and I spotted some gorgeous yellow flowers that looked like sunlight come straight down from heaven. And as I approached the flowers, what did I spy but a pair of orange wings? BUTTERFLY!

A thing I have learned is that you have to know how to stand still to photograph bugs. Watch them. Let them circle you. Don't flinch if they fly a bit too close, or even land on you. Don't jump up and startle them if it seems like they're moving further away. Keep a cool head. And all of this goes for both bees and butterflies, of course.

For among the yellow flowers were some PURPLE ones, and they were just COVERED in bumblebees. I think that those might be a variety of hyssop or catmint, but I'm not sure. Whatever it was, the bees were ADORING it. And then along came this fancy, absolutely perfect butterfly!

Of course, I had places to go, but here's a shocker for you: none of those places seemed very important at that moment. I wanted to stand and watch the butterfly. And so I did just that, standing there for 17 minutes, shooting about a hundred photos of this very placid male (see those spots on the hind wings?) monarch, amid the yellow and purple blooms.

Various bumblebees came and went, and I even spotted some other very fancy, but much SMALLER bug. The little bug and the butterfly seemed to be competing for whose outfit was fancier on this day. Big orange bug? Or little tiny orange bug?

I had not thought until now how intimidating a huge butterfly might seem to other, much smaller bugs. Consider if you were driving a Volkswagen Beetle and a semi tractor trailer pulled up right next to you. Yeah, like that. But in the end, they kept the peace; plenty of food will do that. (You may see the two fancy bugs, by the way, in the extra photo.)

So I left the gardens happy as a clam; even contented, you might say. For no matter what else I am, no matter where else I might have to be, no matter what else I must do, rest assured of this one thing: I am a girl who knows about REAL priorities. For I am a girl who lingers with butterflies!

The soundtrack song . . . I remember the very first time I heard her voice. I am pretty sure the song was this one. She sounded so different, almost other-worldly. And now she is gone. Her name was Delores O'Riordan, and she was the lead singer for the Cranberries. And the song, of course, is the gorgeous tune Linger, released in 1993.