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A Joyful Noise

monarch

Monarch butterfly migration

March 10, 2019 by Melodye Shore

Sometimes circumstances align in a way that feels like pure magic. For example, last Friday, when I was driving home from our garden nursery with three milkweed plants, Mystic Spires salvia, and frilly little fuchsias. As if from nowhere, a flurry of Monarch butterflies drifted into my field of vision. Dozens and dozens of them, floating past my windshield and side view mirrors. When I stopped at a traffic light, they cocooned my car with their colorful wings.

Breathtaking.  To say the least. I’ve seen caterpillars transform themselves into butterflies that emerge from their jewel-colored pendants and take to the sky. I’ve seen overwintering Monarchs that spread their wings in the sunlight and drift away from their clusters. But I’ve never seen so many Monarchs in motion at one time!

Later in the day, that I came to know that the Monarchs are migrating north right now. Lucky me, I got to witness firsthand this amazing phenomenon! Sorry, no photos–I don’t fiddle with my camera/phone while I’m driving. But here’s a quick snapshot of the milkweed that rode shotgun with me. Clearly, I need to get these flowers into the ground, and soon.

Posted in: Butterflies, magic, metamorphosis, milkweed, monarch butterfly, monarch caterpillar, writing Tagged: butterfly, magic, migration, milkweed, monarch, Monarch butterflies

Lesson from an incinerated garden: Soften your gaze

July 10, 2018 by Melodye Shore

Last week, a fire-breathing dragon swooped into my backyard garden, wreaking havoc.

It scalded these Meyer Lemons, which were just about ripe.

Sun-scalded Meyer Lemon, citrus

It was a relentless, record-breaking heatwave that scorched everything in reach.

Gardenia, heat-damaged gardenia

Healthy leaves curled in on themselves, and turned crispy brown. Rose petals got singed, and assumed grotesque shapes.

This week is all about digging up and pruning back, salvaging what I can and encouraging new growth. From here on, it’s a game of wait and see: a budding leaf, the subtle lift of a drooping plant. I’m optimistic, for the most part.

Sun-scorched camellia, high-fragrance camellia

A rascally rabbit has joined my clean-up crew–comic relief!  Butterflies drift through the yard, laying eggs that will eventually replace the caterpillars that didn’t make it.

rabbit, bunny, rascally rabbit

The urge to reproduce is strong, isn’t it? The need to set things right. But dreams don’t often translate into reality overnight.

Lesson from an incinerated garden: Soften your gaze.

hummingbird, soften your gaze, Santa Barbara Sage

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Posted in: garden, heat wave, soften your gaze, writing Tagged: butterfly, camellia, garden, gardenia, gardening, hummingbird, lessons, monarch, New Zealand Rose, rabbit, rose

Monarch Butterfly-in-the-making

June 12, 2018 by Melodye Shore

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly. –R. Buckminster Fuller

Monarch butterfly-to-be, in my backyard

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Posted in: Butterflies, caterpillar, metamorphosis, milkweed, monarch butterfly, monarch caterpillar, quote, R. Buckminster Fuller, writing Tagged: caterpillar, metamorphosis, monarch, monarch caterpillar, quote, R. Buckminster Fuller

The guardian of my secret garden

May 24, 2016 by Melodye Shore

The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough. – Rabindranath Tagore

 If there’s one thing I’ve learned from gardening, it’s that Mother Nature has her own rhythms. Mystifying and maddening though it might sometimes be, there’s an underlying order.

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Why, for instance, is this Monarch caterpillar doing sit-ups on the milkweed leaf? No idea. Sassy little thing, though, isn’t she?  If all goes well, she’ll shed her beautiful skin a couple more times, and then transform herself into a chrysalis.

Maybe one day, she’ll join the ranks of HRH, Mr. Monarch, who eclosed before our very eyes, just about this time last year.

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I’m less inclined, this year than last, to fret when things go “wrong.” It’s a subtle shift–a metamorphosis, if you will–to see yourself as an invited guest at Mother Nature’s garden party.

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Speaking of which: Cool cats that they are,  4th and 5th instar caterpillars are very much attuned to the world beyond milkweed plants that fuel them. By the time they’ve reached this stage,they’ve made least four wardrobe changes, shedding their skins as they grow. Cooler still, they swivel their heads in the direction of distinctive voices and loud music. Here’s what happened when I got close enough to say hello.

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I’m learning as I go, and I cop to my share of mistakes. (I put just-perfect plants in altogether wrong spots, for instance; and I can’t get my First Love gardenia to love me back.) But I’m working very hard to create a garden that provides shelter and sustenance to winged creatures and wildlife, a beautiful respite for all.

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I admire from a distance, zoom close with my camera. But when vulnerable creatures wander off into dangerous territory, as this tiny caterpillar did–flinging itself onto the hard, hot concrete, at least three feet below the plant pot)–I scoop them into a leafy cradle and return them to safety.

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I’m planting the seeds of my own awareness…releasing expectations and accepting with joy the gifts available to me in this moment, in this place. Life lessons, learned best in Mother Nature’s classroom.

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It’s a relief, actually, to let Mother Nature be the guardian of my secret garden.

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Sure, the temptation’s there, and probably always will be: I want to run interference, to protect these treasures from harm.  But as Eric said to me just yesterday, “You’re not Mother Nature, you’re Melodye. He’s a wise one, too, my husband.

Posted in: Butterflies, gardening, metamorphosis, milkweed, monarch butterfly, Monarch Waystation, wings Tagged: chrysalis, garden, metamorphosis, milkweed, monarch, monarch butterfly, transformation

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