The Last Monarch Butterfly

Do you remember the last photo that I posted of a monarch butterfly? It was on September 26. We'd had two huge monarch caterpillars left. The one had turned into a chrysalis that eclosed the day before, and it flew off on the 26th. 

As it was eclosing, the other caterpillar went into J-formation, and then a chrysalis. Guess what: on this day, the chrysalis opened up and we had a brand new monarch butterfly! A boy, too; you can tell by the dots on the hind-wings.

It was a long and winding road to get to this place. The nights got colder and my husband brought the chrysalis indoors. It would sit in the house overnight and he'd take it out and sit it in the sun during the warm parts of the day. To protect it from birds, he'd put a milk crate over it.

As we watched it, week after week, it seemed like nothing was changing. It stayed green. The usual amount of time for a monarch to be in chrysalis is 8 to 15 days. As we approached a month's time, I feared it would eventually rot and I'd have to throw it out; big sads there. I'd look at it and shake my head. I worried that it was not going to get its big chance. It would take a miracle, I think I said.

But no! My husband stood firm. He insisted that this chrysalis was going to be a butterfly. I see wings! he said, last week, with a proud and knowing smile. And then, a few days ago, the chrysalis began to darken. And I started to believe him! 

The power of love is transformative. I might have prayed over that butterfly, that my husband's faith should be rewarded, that our butterfly would be born okay. My lack of faith turned into . . . hope. I think you're gonna get your miracle! I might have said. 

He brought the chrysalis back indoors on Monday night. On Tuesday morning around 10, I heard him exclaiming in the living room: Oh my goodness, we have a BUTTERFLY!!! It was born to its wings inside our house!!! This is a first, for sure!

He quickly took the butterfly outdoors and put it in our Mexican sunflower patch, on top of a milk crate, on top of a chair. It spent the day there, and in the afternoon, it started opening its wings, but it did not leave us yet.

It is not unusual for a new butterfly to spend the night, and so it did. It slept on the spot where my husband put it, with its arms wrapped around the flowers that he brought it. Today, the butterfly is still here. We are having a run of warm days, and we are hopeful that he will take advantage of the mild weather to begin his long journey south!

Say hello to Travelin' Jack!*
Bon voyage, beautiful boy!

I couldn't decide among these four songs, to describe my husband's loving care of the chrysalis, and then our new butterfly. So here they all are: Huey Lewis and the News, with The Power of Love; the Traveling Wilburys, with Handle with Care; John Lennon, with Beautiful Boy; and Bon Jovi, with Keep the Faith.

*Special note: Some of you who are Stephen King readers will recognize the name of the protagonist from his book The Talisman. Twelve-year-old Travelin' Jack is on a quest - he has to find the Talisman to save the queen and his mother, and possibly the whole world.