For you, Dad

June is sprinting by. A month that breaks your heart with its beauty.

I’ve had this feeling lately – a rich, full up feeling. Gratitude I guess. I have this vision in my mind of a trough brimming with water about to spill over the side. That’s what it feels like – abundance. Hold that thought.

I think my Dad is sending me monarch butterflies. I used to tell him each time I spotted one because he was sure they were all gone. I’ve seen more this spring than ever. I wonder why the change. The only thing different in my world is that Dad isn’t here to tell anymore. So I tell Mark.

I keep milkweeds along the edge of the lawn for the butterflies. Not that they really need another patch because milkweeds are all over the ranch. Still, I do it to prove a point. We don’t have to annihilate everything natural, every “weed,” every imposter in our propagated world. We can let some ruffians grow and provide habitat for wild things. I get annoyed with folks in the country who think they need to burn, spray, or mow everything.

We’ve started cutting hay. I was swathing a grass/alfalfa mix field and jumped up a spotted fawn that was lying in the sward. He wobbled off to other cover and his Mom showed up a little later to fetch him. That was entertaining enough, but then I noticed a family of foxes on a nearby ditchbank watching me. The four kits would run and play - wary, and when I got close they would duck down the other side with just their pointed ears sticking over the bank. The parents were more bold, hunting mice and taking them to their brood as I worked.

We’ve been having fun bird watching. There were five cedar waxwings checking out the green chokecherries. Nope not ready. Goldfinches flit by in a rush, as do the Orioles. I think it was a hairy woodpecker I saw this morning climbing the locust trunk. And how can a little wren make such beautiful music? Not so the kingbirds. Mark and I take turns shutting the windows at 4:30 a.m. to quiet their clatter. 

I texted the kids in their east coast cities about the animals I had seen while swathing. Seth responded, “sounds wonderful. I miss home.” 

Check out this site for the movie Flight of the Butterflies and how to help conserve habitat:

http://www.flightofthebutterflies.com/conservation-preservation/                       (thanks Seth)