September

We scan the skies for butterflies, looking for monarchs. It’s September, and those dark orange beauties have begun their long, long journey south. One was spotted this past week. Monarchs are large butterflies, and to see them float again through a clear blue sky, sunlight glowing through their expansive wings, is heaven on earth. We see no monarchs today but plenty of other butterflies like bright little scraps of colored paper, dipping and fluttering, dipping and fluttering. Mostly we see the yellow and black Eastern tiger swallowtails but also a few dark and dusky creatures too far away to properly identify. I can’t help but wonder: do they ever get tired? Do they ever get hungry? Do they ever light on a twig, or a rock, and wait for a hungry bird to find them? Do butterflies dream? I’ll never know. But I’ll look for the monarchs, and it won’t be long until we see them crossing Lake Jocassee, and we’ll continue our annual inventory of their numbers. It won’t be long. Maybe next week. Surely during the next month. Join us, and experience this magic! ~K