SUMMER!! Monarchs, Flowers, Lava and Birthdays

 

Down the Rabbit Hole

On December 1st I had what I can only describe as an Alice in Wonderland kind of day.

Many things happened that were well within the norm for us -- dogs, mail, meals, some yard work, a painting project a little news and a movie. It began with coffee, feeding the corgyn and a discussion about what the day would bring, ruled tyrannically by the weather -- go with the flow and all that.  Then the monthly Civil Defense siren went off -- as did the singing dogs, of course. But THEN... the second siren went off...playing a different elongated blast!!

AND   DOWN 
      THE  RABBIT HOLE 
                    I WENT

While it was blasting, I wondered if any other states, on the continent, were practicing BOMBS INCOMING drills. I experienced an odd unreality temporal dislocation of some kind - f**k me! I was in elementary school hiding under my desk. What reality is this? For better or worse, I didn't stay in that lane for long because our friendly yard guy showed up to unload some mulch.

Later there was a stunning bacon-lettuce-tomato-cucumber-avocado sandwich on rye, a few emails and preparing "puppy lunch" for "Tudor."

Monarchwatch.org gives instructions on care

Then, another kind of rabbit hole experience -- the care and feeding of over 30 Monarch caterpillars who are all creating exquisite pale green jade chambers for their magnificent transformation. Many more are now hanging from the "ceiling" of the enclosure.

NEXT -- carefully following the instructions of the folks at Monarch Watch GO MONARCHS  I carefully tied thread around the base of the cocoon to remove it so I could transfer. I am getting some ready for local teacher to use in her classroom.

Pleas and Deals a comin'

Another Rabbit Hole experience was its own brand of weird -- for the first time in months, I think I saw a hint of grin on Adam Schiff's face today.

But then again I saw another grin on the faces of the Trump children after the tax bill passed.

Not my usual post, but a response to the current UNREALITY.

Save the Monarchs!

Brown and Green Anole

Butterfly atrium installation

Seems like these days everyone is trying to save something. Used to be endangered species, but lately, there are massive efforts to save the free press, environment, health even democracy.

This week I am choosing something small, immediate and in my control to focus on instead.

Our blog on February 3, 2017 About our Monarchs provided great photos of one Monarch emerging from a chrysalis. Since then we have witnessed lots of egg laying, many caterpillars, and fewer chrysalis. At first we thought birds, but never really saw any around the Monarchs' favorite Crown Flower plant.

Watching more closely, we have determined it was actually some of our typical Hawaii reptiles!!  The ANOLE -- which are not the more recognizable geckos. These are actually small lizards who emigrated from elsewhere, around the 1950's with thousands of non-native species introduced from around the world.

New hatch of eggs produces many caterpillars

Top hinges to add caterpillars, and allow butterflies to escape

In an effort to protect our Monarch population, we decided to build a screened in butterfly atrium.

Today after construction, we slid the unit down over rooted cuttings of Crown Flower -- the leaves being the food source for caterpillars. After sliding open the top, we carefully transferred close to two dozen caterpillars into the "nursery."  As they mature and eat the leaves, we can easily slide cut branches down into the cage.

Update: 3 days later the larger caterpillars are already creating chrysalis, and we are having to add new leaves as the two dozen caterpillars are eating so much so fast!

Update: week later -- LOTS of chrysalis forming -- enough to share with local classrooms. Thanks to monarchwatch.org I learned how to tie off the chrysalis and place them into jars to watch the emerging butterflies.

Groundhog Day

Early mornings I like to take my cup of coffee outside to stroll barefooted around the back yard enjoying the delights of the garden.

Last year although we discovered the Monarch butterflies had laid many eggs on our Crown Flower plant, the hatched caterpillars all disappeared before we could witness the magical transformation (maybe eaten by birds?)

Yesterday, however, I found a solitary pupa among the munched leaves and hollered to Phil to "come see." 

He brought the camera out, and while we were standing there, we were surprised to see the thin translucent layer of the pupa "pop" open. 

And, right before our eyes, we witnessed the emergence of a brand new Monarch butterfly! The pupa (because of the diet of Crown Flower leaves) is spun green. However as the transformation occurs, it becomes more translucent.

If you look carefully at the pupa photo -- you can even see the bold stripes showing through.

We were both surprised as the butterfly emerged to think it had been cramped into such a small space.

Watching the origami-wings slowly unfurl took about five minutes. We watch while the new butterfly stretched them out to dry in the warm sun.

The final four pictures document the final stages of the process we witnessed on Groundhog Day.

NOTE: The caterpillar on the left began to "curl up" during the day -- and next morning -- we got a photo of the brand new (translucent) pale green pupa.) Of course we will be hoping to catch another emergence --- if we are lucky.

My sister died on the first of February -- not unexpectedly. Over the years, as such losses occur, we have planted something in our yard as a tribute to each person.

When Phil's mom passed a few years ago, we planted two baby ohia trees in her memory. Now, the Crown Flowers will always remind me of my sister and our shared journeys through life.

All change is loss of one kind or another; witnessing this process was a lovely metaphor and reminder of the on-going process of life -- and death -- and new life.