A flash of color
catches my eye
orange and black on lavender.
Could this be it,
could it really be?
Quick
take a picture
with my iPhone
before it flies away
shyness oozing from its wings.
The picture emerges
blurry
over-exposed
but proof positive
that there in front of me
in living technicolor
is a Monarch Butterfly
For those of you who haven’t been following my blog, you will want to know that I planted a bunch of milkweed in the spring around my property in the hopes of luring more Monarchs to make their homes away from homes here. I have been holding my breath to see if any show up so imagine my excitement (and my relief at being able to breathe again) when I saw one this afternoon. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone and not my better camera so the picture is not great but still…
It has actually been a terrible year for butterflies in general here on my property in MD. Swallowtails, in abundance last year, are few and far between. Even the little guys are short on numbers. It is very sad when there is a dip in the populations of some of my favorite insects. I can only hope that it is temporary.
Muse-ings 
So happy you finally got your first Monarch! We’ve had quite a lot this year (near NYC) fortunately so hopefully this means you’ll get a lot too?
I’m glad to hear you’ve been seeing them in the city. They say that monarchs are actually proliferating in the city since there are no chemicals being sprayed on their habitat. A friend of mine has seen several Monarchs at her house which is only 15 minutes away (by car, not if you are a butterfly) so I know they are around.
I love the phrase “15 minutes away (by car, not if you are a butterfly)”. Sometimes we should measure time by butterfly flight….
I haven’t figured out if it would be more or less if you were a butterfly. Butterflies have a tendency not to fly in a straight line. 🙂
Hooray, hooray. Wonderful news. Hope you will see many more in the coming days. Interesting that monarchs are finding a less toxic environment in the cities.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/2594899 A little bit on what has happened to our monarchs this year. 😦
So glad your planting paid off since as you say butterflies need all the help they can get!