Chasing Butterflies

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

Carl Sagan

Chasing Butterflies

Butterflies flitting nervously

over the sandy ground -

landing flying, landing flying

my heart can’t rest

as my eyes follow

the erratic movements

of their bodies

landing flying, landing flying

here on a stone,

there a stretch of sand-

then it’s another butterfly

that they can land by,

but that one won’t stay

and neither can I

when I can only catch up

in time to see them fly-

my heart can’t rest.

So we'll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh at gilded butterflies.

William Shakespeare

The pictures were taken on Lake Michigan earlier this month on a warm sunny day. The butterflies are Tiger Swallowtails. Such beautiful creatures. They are in the same family of butterflies as the Monarch. They are called swallowtails because their forked tails resemble the tails of swallows (the birds). I wondered why I saw them on the beach instead of near a field or flowers. One explanation I saw was that male swallowtails do something called “puddling” - it’s one of the only times they gather in groups; they do it to sip water and obtain some necessary minerals.

I love butterflies, but I noticed when I was chasing after them to take pictures, I felt anxious. They usually move so quickly, barely resting on a spot before lifting off again. Just as you get them into the frame, they’re out of it. It reminded me of how my mind races sometimes when I have a lot of things to do. It races so much at times that I actually can’t do anything. I just run around starting things. Maybe the next time I feel that way, I will remember the butterflies and I will decide to land on just one task.

Thank you so much for being here! See you next week!

Sounds of Silence

Silence is a sounding thing, to one who listens hungrily.

Gwendolyn B. Bennett

January 25, 2023 - Pigeon watches the seagull fly away

Listening Practice

Listen to the pigeons on the pier-

just cooing, you might say,

except for a rumbling bass note

deep in their bellies

following it

solemnly rising at the end,

into a plea.

Listen as they murmur together,

on the rocks of the pier-

turning toward the sun

where the seagulls fly.

January 25, 2023 - One step

January 26, 2023 - Seagull bathing in sunlight

January 26, 2023-South Pointe, Miami Beach

how do i capture the sound

of the ocean on a calm day,

when waves lightly kiss the sand

and the white foam lingers there -

slowly sinking in

beneath the seagull’s feet?

At the beginning of the year, I wrote about a few themes I wanted to focus on this year (Savoring Transition). Listening was one of them. Not long afterward, my friend Lisa sent me a great article called Sound Tracking by Rob Walker, with a listening practice to try; which I did nearly every day this week; focusing my attention on and trying to identify the sounds I heard around me.

When I wanted to write about what I heard, I looked up words for sounds (like the pigeons’ “coo”) and realized how inadequate language can be to describe the sounds we hear. Too many of the words are the same for completely different sounds. Is that because we don’t listen, or because the sounds are too complicated to be captured in a word?

January 26, 2023 - Sargassum sunrise

January 26, 2023

Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them. A.A. Milne

These weeds, sargassum, float on the water and are left behind by when the tide moves out. They pile up on the beach this time of year, until the tractors come by and bury them under the sand. Most people think they are a nuisance; but today, in the sun, this little one was beautiful.

January 27, 2023 - Fish Crow holding court

January 27, 2023 - A fish crow looked like he was holding court over the seagulls on the sand today when I walked by. It is amazing how many different varieties of gulls there are here. From a distance you might think they’re all the same; but even in just the small sample in this picture; you can see that they are not.

January 30, 2023 - Larus Gull

January 30, 2023 - This seagull caught my eye because of its varied feathers. I believe it’s a Laurus Gull, possibly a banded-beak laurus. I didn’t realize how striking its eyes were until I got home from my walk.

January 31, 2023 - Boat-tailed grackles gathered to sing with a wren listening.

January 31 2023. The grackles were singing their hearts out on this sign overlooking the boating channel in Miami Beach. The other bird (maybe a wren) flew in afterward. He looked like he was listening.

As I walked along the marina, I got lucky and saw the green heron below, just calmly sitting on the rocks. - probably waiting for a fish to swim by? He didn’t seem to mind me stopping.

January 31, 2023 - Green Heron Fishing from Marina

January 28, 2023 - Another iguana stopped by,

January 28-January 29, 2023.

Last week, I wrote about the iguanas that have been sleeping in the trees next to my apartment. I couldn’t resist taking a few more pictures, because two more showed up this week. One of them was HUGE. Since I took these pictures all but one has left the trees. I think they like these trees because they’re sheltered from the wind but still in a high and sunny location. Now that the winds are not as strong; they’ve moved on.

January 28, 2023 - Make that two.

January 29, 2023. A Big Iguana of a different color appeared for a few hours today.

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January 29, 2023 - This is the same little iguana from yesterday; his pose and his smile almost human.

January 26, 2023 - Gently rolling surf at sunrise.

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.

A. A. Milne

A final moment of zen. I love the quote from A..A. Milne because it feels like daydreaming, and that’s what you should do sometimes when you’re walking along the water, or even just staring out your window. I hope you get a chance to try it this week. Thanks for joining me here!

Celebrating a Year with Wally - A Toy Walrus

The most simple things can bring the most happiness.

Izabella Scorupco

January 13, 2023 - Wally on his own Tiny Planet- Ferndale, Michigan

January 13, 2023

This past week, while I was back in Michigan, I decided to play around with my camera, and my toy Walrus, Wally. I found him almost exactly a year ago at a rest area in Florida while on a road trip. I’ve been taking him everywhere since then. He’s very photogenic. There’s something oddly soulful in his expression. I hope the pictures make you smile; I had fun taking them.

January 14, 2023 - Wally finds an ice cave - Fennville, Michigan

January 14, 2023. The lake does magical things in winter - like this little ice cave which I imagine was created when water filled with sand flowed over the rock and somehow froze in a hollow shell. Later, when it got warmer, some icicles formed. It was almost as if it was custom made for Wally.

January 15, 2023 - Resting on the frozen driftwood

January 15, 2023. Posed Wally on a dark piece of driftwood covered in ice at the edge of Lake Michigan. This cold weather is just right for a Walrus. He’s in his element.

January 15, 2023 - Looking out from a soft moss bed - Pier Cove, Michigan

January 15, 2023. Took Wally on my long run to the Pier Cove Trail. I let him take a break in the soft moss by the edge of the trail mid-run. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny winter day.

January 15, 2023 - Wally gazing wistfully over the lake at sunset.

January 15, 2023. The perfect end to a beautiful sunny January day. Tired and happy, I took Wally down to watch the sunset.

January 16, 2023 - Wally reflecting on the shore of Lake Michigan.

January 17, 2023. Wally and me. Look at those eyes.

Here’s one from last year - not long after I found him. Wally stopping to smell the roses on Miami Beach. I’m thinking about doing an entire book of his adventures. Just for fun.

The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.

Gilbert K. Chesterton