Sending Out Peace, Love, and Butterflies!

I had a lunch date scheduled for this day with some very dear friends. The night before, I said to my husband, "I think I'll dress up a little." I used to dress up every day for the office, back in the days when I worked at Penn State. I have lots of pretty shoes but I never get to wear them.

So I pulled out a red dress and a pair of very high, red, peep-toe heels. And in the morning, when I put the outfit on, I added red lipstick. As we walked out the front door to the car, we stopped and my husband snapped a few photos of me in front of our milkweed patch. I am five feet two. Do you see how tall they've grown? And the instant I arrived, so did a yellow tiger swallowtail butterfly. (You can actually see it in this photo; if I stretched my left arm out shoulder-high, I could touch it.) Hello, big sister Barb!

My husband had errands to run, so he dropped me off at the Ale House. I had my high heels on, and a pair of back-up Crocs in my bag, just in case I couldn't hack it. I got out of the car, went to cross the road, and stepped right out of my heels! Way to go, girl. That's a great start!

I teetered over to our table outdoors under the trees, where my friend Judy was waiting. And oh yes, you who have been following the Tale of the Hippopotami, you can rest easy knowing Judy brought me another one on this day. This hippo was blue, and it was from Egypt, and yes, T. Tiger rode it across the table and nearly mowed over Gina! But you'll have to wait to see it on another day.

I gasped a little as I felt something brush against my ankle under the table. And looked down to discover it was a very friendly moth, which I shooed away.  A bit later, a tiny spider ran across my menu and down onto my dress. I lifted the fabric and tipped the tiny spood away from me onto the bench. Yes, the critters are quite friendly here.

My friend Cindy is a big Beatles fan, and she informed us that it was Ringo Starr's 82nd birthday. And that his only birthday wish was to spread peace and love. So at noon, we should all say Peace and Love! Well, I had on a necklace that said PEACE. And a ring that said LOVE. And I had silver butterfly earrings on that were Barb's. So I raised my glass of ice water and said, "Peace, love, and butterflies!"

I was enjoying my lunch of prime rib sandwich with au jus (and lemme tellya that au jus was something else!), when I felt a strange tickle between my thighs. Wait. What? WHAT? Well, guess who was back: the very friendly moth! "IT'S UP UNDER MY SKIRT!!!" I practically hollered, as I danced around.

So it was that I was sitting there, scooting around in my chair, trying to sort of lift my skirt, but NOT lift my skirt, as the butterfly or moth advanced upon private places. I am sure the people around us thought we were having one of those When Harry Met Sally moments. But then, the moth was finally gone. (What can I say? It might have been the highlight of my day thus far!)

"You're lucky," Judy said. "When I was here with my daughter recently, a caterpillar fell out of the tree and into her salad, and she was NOT happy!" So there you go: apparently, it could have been worse. A word of advice here. Gals, if you wear a skirt to outdoor dining, be sure to keep your knees CLOSED! For the moths are quite friendly here, and they want to love you long-time!

So that is the story of how I put a red dress on and went to town. My cousin Susie says this is how Grammy Carvell used to pose, in her gardens, in her dress and peep-toe shoes, and so that is true, and maybe this is me, sort of channeling Grammy Carvell. (A more typical view of me in my usual tomboy mode may be found here.)

And there is a butterfly in the milkweed beside me, and that is Barb saying hello. And those red heels, well, Ellen and Joseph would have loved them, and so I dedicate these heels to them, may they both be dancing in heaven with red shoes on!

As for me, you can't see my earrings or my necklace or my ring. But know that I am wearing the words and symbols of the things that I believe in. And the greatest of ALL those things is LOVE! Here is a great big Hi and Hello from central Pennsylvania, where the milkweed is growing tall and strong and beautiful, and where we are sending out peace, love, and butterflies!

Now, it's my tradition to include a soundtrack song or two. And so I'll give you a few songs for this girl in the red dress. First, the song my husband was singing to me, as we headed to the car: Kenny Rogers, with Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town. Second is a song I'd have to say I like better: Chris DeBurgh, Lady in Red. And one more red dress song, because quite honestly, I felt like Fran when I put this dress on, transformed, like I should go dancing in the Pan Pacific Grand Prix! So here is the final dance scene from the awesome Baz Luhrmann flick Strictly Ballroom, which can only be done with a girl in a red dress. Finally, let's give a shout-out to Ringo, whose birthday this is, and so in his honor I'm including a song my friend Cindy will love: the Beatles, with Ringo singing lead on With a Little Help From My Friends.

P.S. I feel I should add a note about how to grow butterflies. Believe it or not, this milkweed patch started out with just a few plants. We noticed monarch caterpillars on them, and the caterpillars ate all the leaves, leaving the plants stripped bare. My husband went up the hill on his bike and brought back another couple of milkweed plants from along the road, which we transplanted here to feed the hungry babies. Every year, the milkweed increases! Milkweed leaves are the ONLY plant that monarch butterfly caterpillars can eat. So: grow milkweed, decrease the mowing, increase native plants, provide some water sources, and don't use any poisons. That's my Rx for butterflies!