Just a few short words this month - early for a change - because they want to be said now. Here's what happened today at work. I was there a bit earlier than usual - it was my first day of tour listening and we knew we'd have a sizeable group to prep for. After a bit of running to and fro, a glint caught my eye and to my dismay, I saw a beautiful irridescent spotted butterfly fall to the ground just outside the replica of Fort Lauderdale's first school house. I froze in my tracks - worried that I'd inadvertently squished it. However, as my internal frames-per-second slowed down, I took the time to see what was happening in the micro habitat of this hopefully-not-squished butterfly.
To my relief and delight, the swish of my skirt had not squished the butterfly's guts out, but had knocked a recently hatched atala and its chrysalis - to which it was clinging - off the coontie plant that is their home. Upon further observation of the tiny neighborhood - I was treated to a beautiful surprise. What I had stumbled across was an urban neighborhood of #atala butterflies in both pre and post hatching phases of their life cycle.
These butterflies I knew were special because I had heard about them last year and how they are making a remarkable recovery from the brink of human - induced extinction. For anyone who's read my past work, interest in insects should come as no surprise. But to see a whole microcosm of atala life... with their beautiful sparkly wing spots and that remarkable red thorax... just a most incredible gift to witness. And I am so thankful!
Then after the noon day sun began to recede, I realized my second incredible gift of the day. I was standing on the boardwalk overlooking the wetland trail at Miramar Pinelands. As the soft shell turtles swam over and the waxing moon tipped over the shallows... I remembered that this too was an ecosystem in regeneration - restored to its historical contours and hydrological morphology as closely as possible. By returning the land to the way it was at the time of the first European settlements, the ecosystem has been able to regenerate itself - naturally returning turtles, fish, frogs, foxes, ospreys, even an eagle and untold numbers of insects... (See my Miramar Pinelands media set on facebook)These two distinct yet comparable success stories in human conservation and restoration practices are just what the doctor ordered in my current, not-so-stress-free analysis of what we need to do to get back to basic respect of each other and this beautiful garden we have the luxury and responsibility to live in and care for. No matter how many cool space travel pics NASA releases, as humans, we are still bound to this earth in a trust relationship with our future generations that we need to seriously reflect on and start acting like responsible adults.
We may move slowly at times - but it is truly wondrous to see the fruit of an unfulfilled childhood dream come to life before your eyes - that is the miracle we call life unfolding around us each and every moment - if we just slow down enough to notice.
