Migrating Monarch Butterflies

 

 

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly."   - Richard Buckminster Fuller

 

 

 

Butterflies are self propelled flowers."
- R.H. Heinlein

 

 

 

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."
- Maya Angelou

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cocoon and The Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
One day a small opening appeared, he sat and
watched the butterfly for several hours as it
struggled to force its body through that little
hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it
could and it could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so
he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the
remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily.
But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled
wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly
because he expected that, at any moment, the
wings would enlarge and expand to be able to
support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent
the rest of its life crawling around with a
swollen body and shriveled wings.
It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not
understand was that the restricting cocoon and
the struggle required for the butterfly to get
through the tiny opening were God's way of
forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly
into its wings so that it would be ready for
flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need
in our life. If God allowed us to go through
our life without any obstacles, it would cripple
us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
And we could never fly.
Author Unknown

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of Aug. and into September, the Monarch Butterflies gather at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, which is on the shores of Northern Lake Ontario, as they get ready for the long journey  of  migration to Central Mexico.

There is an association called, “Friends of the Park”. These Naturalist catch, tag and release these butterflies so they can keep track of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to witness how they capture and tag the butterflies. I did not see them arrive in clusters, but I was able to find a few and photograph them after they had been tagged and then released. These are a few of the photos I took that day. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have heard it said, that if a butterfly lands on you, it will bring you good luck. I had one land on my shoulder a few years ago. I must say, I don’t believe in luck, but I was truly Blessed now and then as I photographed, and admired these Beautiful creatures created by God.

 

 

 

I will end with this photo which I simply call

“The Landing”

 

 

Take care one and all. Have a great day!

Love and Care, Dianne :)

 P.S  For many of us it is the last weekend of the summer , so have a “Good One”. No matter what the Season, have a Blessed Weekend to each and every one of you :)

Building Dreams Renovations of Old Shop

After 3 summers of slowing adding on and putting a new roof on the old shop, the work is finally done.

Work began 3 summers ago when we decided to pour concrete on the floor of the open shed.  The dust was always all over everything that was stored in there.  It was also decided maybe we should put a foundation under as it had been built directly on the ground.  The previous owners had built this shed in the early 80’s.

 

Once that was done we decided to add a carport the next summer.  More concrete mixing again.

 

Slowly that began to take shape with all the timber hubby had cut on the sawmill.  You also get a good idea here what the shed looked like before work started.

 

Well for the 1st time in 20 years we had a place under cover to park our car.  So nice in the winter.

Now to summer of 2011 early summer began with logging again for trees to cut lumber on the sawmill for the new raised roof on the old part of the building. 

 

Before starting on the new roof some trees close to the shed needed cutting.  At 73 hubby still climbs up to trim branches before cutting down the tree.  With a vehicle pulling one way and another friend and me pulling the other the tree landed perfectly.  As you can see it could have landed on our house.  There were 3 trees in total one was only 7 inches from the shed.  It was also laid perfectly right on top of the other one.

    

Ready to begin work and decide on the slope we want and how high to go.  Some framing begins.  But still have to remove the old roof.

 

It was up and down ladders hundreds of times for hubby.  Finally the old roof was completely removed.  Only one accident.  When one rafter had been cut and I was holding it to push over the wall I pushed hubby off the ladder so he let go of his end and my end came back down on my head.  Lucky I had my sweat shirt hood on for padding.

 

Now that all the old roof had been removed hubby began framing with beams and lumber.

 

Ladders everywhere, but it was starting to take shape.  The area was a disaster zone of old material, new material, saws and tools.

 

Finally the new metal roof was put on and windows put in.  Rough cut siding from our mill was added to the top new portion.

 

New and raised roof.  The inside is so nice now with lots of light that we had lost when the carport had been added.  Now hubby has a clean place for his saws and a nice work area.

I am one of the luckiest ladies to have a man who loves to build whatever I design.  He is the doer I am the designer.  Together we make a great working team.

May you have someone in your life that balances with your talents and have a
Good Morning…  Good Afternoon…   Good Night…
What ever it is to you..

Photo & Words
by
Here I Am/Carrie