Butterflies are in the air in Minnesota right now, and I love seeing their beautiful delicate wings against a clear blue sky. With wildfires the previous couple of weeks I never though I would take a clear blue sky for granted, but here we are, and it seems like it might be getting worse. Not only that, but butterflies are becoming rare these days. Last summer I took my son to the lake that has a big sandy beach. We stop there some days after school and kick our feet in the water, and the fish will brush against our legs sometimes. Someone feeds them, other than the anglers fishing from the dock about fifty feet away, and they beg for food like puppies.
While we were playing in the water, there was a group of boys that had a paddleboard that they were taking out of the water. While they were taking the board out of the water I noticed an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail buzzing around their paddleboard. One of the little turds saw the butterfly, showed his friend, and then was about to swat it, but instead ended up splashing it. He knew that I was glaring at him, so he stopped and walked away. Yes, I would have slapped someone else’s kid. I walked to the butterfly in the sand and really had a chance to look at it. I’ve never really seen an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail up close. I showed my son and took a picture of it. I didn’t like the idea of watching something delicate and beautiful die slowly. I walked back to the water and kept glancing in the direction. I didn’t see anyone else walk in that direction of the beach, but before going back to the car, I went back there to have one last look. The butterfly was gone.
There’s the logical explanation that something might have eaten it, or that it might have been buried in the sand. I like the idea that the wings dried off, and the butterfly flew away. A bird might have swooped in quickly and might have eaten it. I like the idea that my son will be able to show his children butterflies against a blue sky someday. I don’t know if it will happen, but it’s just so depressing.
Yellow Birch Graphics 