Band of Gold

Now that you've gone
All that's left is a band of gold
All that's left are the dreams i hold
Band of gold - Freda Payne, 1970

This is all that is left of the chrysalis of Monarch #36 - she took off yesterday, bound for Mexico, leaving me with a band of gold.  I actually wish I'd shot this in my softbox with a black background - maybe I'll do that tomorrow.  I also did a version of this in mono which I quite like - you can see it HERE.  Be curious as to what you think?

A close up of a monarch wing HERE on Flickr - look closely to see the stitch-like scales on the wings.    This one was #42, a female, released this afternoon.  All that is left in my nursery now are 4 fat fifth instar cats and three 3rd/4th instar cats, all eating feverishly.  They know that time is running short.

Hubs and I took his Camaro back to the restoration shot today - there are some paint issues they need to fix so they will have it a few weeks.  Then, this afternoon we went out for a quick paddle.  It was quite windy out on the lake we went to so we worked hard.  And when we stopped paddling, we got carried quickly by the wind.  Still, a fun time.  Got very close to a fishing Great Blue Heron which was fun.  

The Portland area, where my parents live is still under a blanket of smoke and people are being warned not to go outside unless absolutely necessary because the air quality is so bad.  Residents are being asked to put masking tape around their windows and all but one door to try to keep smoke out.  And the smoke has reached us her on the East Coast, nearly 3,000 miles away - can't smell it but you can see a yellowish haze in the sky.  Meanwhile I was listening to a BBC report on the radio today about the fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal in Brazil - it made me want to weep.  What kind of world are we leaving to the children being born today?


Be kind, be loving, be safe.


xo
Debbi