Monarchs

For two years prior to this one, we've collect so many caterpillars, we were running the Monarch Motel. Caterpillars check in, enjoy the all-you-can-eat milkweed buffet, and check out in about two weeks as butterflies. It was amazing to observe: you could hear them chewing, watch them shed their skin, and later emerge from the chrysalis. We'd usually have 20 "guests" in the fall.

This year, despite many fruitless hunts, we found only one caterpillar. I think it's a cyclical thing... I don't like to blame every phenomenon willy-nilly on global warming. We released her earlier this week. (We know it's a "her" because a "he" has large white spots on the lower point of his wings.) She rested on our mums for a few hours. I happened to look out in time to see her flutter away, soon to be heading to Mexico.