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

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not eve...
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers...
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intentio...
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to...
Read more

Exploring Themes in Poetry With Emerging Writers

Image
There is so much more to poetry than haiku and acrostics. Yet, so many young poets never get to experience the rich breadth of poetry beyond these highly structured forms. Why? Primarily, it’s about their teachers comfort levels with poetry. We often teach to what we know, meaning that being adventurous and taking young poets into new realms is not part of the poetic landscape for many. This sells young poets and poetry itself short. Last week I had the pleasure to again work with a group of young poets from Derrimut Primary School grade 5/6 in Melbourne’s west. We have been exploring patterns and repetition in poetry. We have explored personification as a literary device to develop the writing of poetry. We delved into the idea of writing through a mask to provide inanimate and animate entities with a voice. They told stories in words from their own perspective. On this occasion we again went to the edges and began to explore poetry through themes. We discussed a range ...
Read more