Slice of Life Story Challenge Day 27 -The Wanderers Return

Last year, at almost the exact time, I experienced a wonder of nature I had waited all my life to experience. Monarch Butterflies finally entered my garden. In Australia they are also known as Wanderer Butterflies.
At that time I wrote, ‘I noticed some large butterflies hovering near the buddleias beside the creek.  At first I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things. Could they be Wanderers? Such visits are uncommon. However, they are renowned for being able to travel significant distances and I have waited many years for them to visit. So the hope in my heart began to dance with anticipation.

I stood to gain a closer look. I approached them tentatively, not wishing to disturb them; still unsure that what my eyes were fixed upon matched the thoughts in my head. Were these magnificent butterflies flittering around me actually the legendary Monarch butterflies also known as Wanderers?  Diving and swooping continually around the buddleias and along the creek their movement held me mesmerized. Finally, they flew up high and disappeared into the branches of a Weeping Willow before returning to the buddleias once more, propping to allow their delicate wings to soak up the vital sun, like solar panels. 

These were the buddleias (butterfly bush) that I had planted some three years before in the hope of attracting exotic butterflies, -and now a cluster of what I strongly believed were the long awaited Wanderers were feasting on the dark purple flowers of my Black Buddleias. This was the pay off. This was realization of a simple dream. For years I had planted swan plants in the hope of specifically attracting Wanderers. It had been fruitless. Instead they had found the Buddleias. When you’ve waited so long for something to arrive, it’s like being a kid again. You are alive with the thought and the moment.’

Well, yesterday, they came back. They came back as the experts said they would! They came back and my hopes were fully realized.  It’s been almost one whole year since they called in, but they have not forgotten. As Vicki and I sat on the lower deck soaking up the faint autumn sun and sharing a cup of tea, the butterflies flew around us before landing on the Buddleias. This location now appears imprinted in their collective genetic memory.  The cycle is complete. Welcome back, friends who flutter…

Comments

  1. maria.selke27 March 2012 at 20:49

    That is amazing! I'm always afraid of trying to attract butterflies because my husband is allergic to bees...

    ReplyDelete
  2. elsie28 March 2012 at 00:44

    I didn't know they returned to the same place. How awesome is it to have this experience repeat itself for years to come. Love the photo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Terje 28 March 2012 at 04:46

    I wish to write like you - in such detail and emotion. The whole experience sounds amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dana28 March 2012 at 10:51

    Beautiful. It's really special that you can look back in your notes from a year ago to find an entry on this event and reflect upon it and add to it with today's writing.

    ReplyDelete

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