Slightly Imperfect

I thought that this came from the monarch cat I found on my milkweed just before I left for OR - the timing is right and when I saw it yesterday, it had that "freshly emerged" look. Today, it is slightly imperfect ... with a small bit gone from its lower wing. Did something take an exploratory bite? I'll never know, but it's something to ponder. And, on closer examination, it's not a Monarch, but a Viceroy! And not the same one that I saw yesterday (which was a Monarch).

Some of you may know that the monarchs in North America are facing a tough time. Their wintering grounds in Mexico have suffered from logging as well as climate change in the last few years, destroying much of the monarch population that usually migrates to N. America in the summers. Will they recover? Time will tell. I am increasingly fascinated with creatures that migrate - and I find myself hoping that they all somehow manage to find their way to a safe haven.

Speaking of migrants, I saw one little hummer this morning, working the flower beds in my garden. It spent time on each flower, extracting the goodness, before disappearing up into the trees, probably on its way south.

As for me, I awoke this morning feeling slightly worse - so maybe I overdid things yesterday. Or maybe allergies caught up with me. Either way, it kind of pisses me off because I was counting on spending the day outside - instead, I spent part of it napping.

Tomorrow the tree guy is coming over to deal with our downed trees. It should be exciting, especially the ones that are dangling from 30 feet up.

Thank you for sending yesterday's hummer to the Spotlight. I can't help but wonder if it is my last hummer blip of the season...

Happy Saturday.

Debbi