First Light: Raindrops on Leaves

"There is . . . another . . . Skywalker." - Yoda.

We got a tiny bit of rain overnight, but apparently, only in the front yard. As the morning sun arrived, I walked out and discovered all of the leaves bedecked in sparkling diamond raindrops. 

The water seemed to bring out rainbow shades that were not even IN the leaf itself. It made me think of stained glass windows. How does it do that? How marvelous, and what a beautiful gift arranged between light and water! Glory, glory! Take off your shoes. You are standing on holy ground!

It was a day that we spent mostly in our own yard. It was sunny and breezy. By the afternoon, leaves were blowing everywhere. Down, down! Gravity calls! Look out! They're coming down!

It was mid-afternoon. I was sitting in the front yard with my book, and I looked up for just a second. I caught a shimmer of orange out of the corner of my eye: MONARCH BUTTERFLY!!!! My husband and I saw it at the very same instant. Flip-flutter! Orange shine! Flip flip, fly. Up out of the leaves it arose, and it flew to the housetop, and then away, away!

Based on this past few days' amazing story, you might think that this was Travelin' Jack, back for one last visit before his big journey. But no. My husband and I BOTH had the impression that it was a much smaller butterfly. I had the feeling - no details, just a hunch - that it might have been a female! I might have heard Yoda's voice in my head: "There is . . . another . . . SKYWALKER."*

As caterpillar season ended, we had a chrysalis in the osteospermum plant. It eclosed on September 26. But there were TWO MORE huge caterpillars in the milkweed patch at that time. I was calling them Hillary and Norgay because they always climbed WAY UP HIGH. 

On the 25th, one of the two big caterpillars went into J-formation on a milkweed leaf, and its leaf fell the next day. I rescued the chrysalis and my husband eventually brought it indoors. That was Travelin' Jack, about whom you have heard so much.

But we lost track of the second big caterpillar. Though we looked and looked all around, we never spotted its chrysalis. Well, guess what: on this day, we had one final summer surprise in the yard. 

We met our last brand new monarch butterfly of the year: last but not least, A NOVEMBER MONARCH!!!! <insert great big beaming smiles here> It must have eclosed in secret among the leaf litter on the ground!

C'est fini. 
Fly high and proud and strong, our final butterfly!
May the force be with you!

I couldn't decide between two songs to go with this story, so here they both are. First is John Denver and Emmylou Harris, with Wild Montana Skies. Second is Leonard Cohen, with Save the Last Dance for Me, Live in Dublin, 2013. (This whole concert is gorgeous and joyous, BTW, and I recommend you watch every bit of it that you can find!)

*She will always be Leia to me.