A Message from the Butterfly Girl

My husband and I went over to the closed road by the shooting range at the Scotia Barrens so he could jog and I could walk. I had a feeling I'd see butterflies today, and I was right: the place was just LOADED with red-spotted purples, Limenitis arthemis.

It was like a message from Barb, my big sister whose birthday was last week, and I have been missing her so. So the butterflies felt like a sign of some kind. Blue was her favorite color, and my sister had a butterfly tattoo on her back.

Butterflies love stinky things, like animal scat and dead carcasses. There is lots of porcupine scat along the trail there. On my way out to the rock where I like to sit (sorry, no clandestine, world-domination groundhog/rabbit liaison this time!), I saw three red-spotted purples on scat. They looked like they were dancing!

When I got to my rock, I found a butterfly sitting on my rock, for the first time ever. As if to say, "Are you getting the message NOW?" :-)

And then as I walked back to the car, there were FOUR red-spotted purples on the scat pile. One of them left the group to come over and sit right in front of my foot! (Yes, message received!)

My sister is well and happy in the Next Place, where she lives now. She is with me always and will never leave me. I know that this is true, for the blue butterflies have told me so.

As far as a soundtrack song goes, I think this one will do just fine: R.E.M., with It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

Bonus: more blue butterfly pics on Instagram.