Consider the Butterfly

The first butterfly of the season appeared in our garden on Monday, flying from flower to flower on the Buddleia (butterfly) bushes in search of nectar. It was a long-anticipated visit. I had been outdoors on-and-off-again this spring getting the garden in shape.

My work was well rewarded. I have many varieties of plants, most of them deer-resistant, and the Buddleia is one of those. When the colorful visitor dropped by this week, I reached for my Kodak digital camera, returned to the garden, and captured several photos of her at work. Buddleias are a magnet for butterflies and bees.

I couldn’t help but to admire the resolve with which this apparently simple creature went about its work. It was very breezy on Monday but, despite the wind resistance offered by that beauty’s large wings as it flew from bloom to bloom, it never once lost its grip on the flowers upon which it settled to gather its food.

The butterfly continued on its chores independently, making do with what nature provided for it; leaving its surroundings intact, with no visible traces of its visit.

Somehow, I think that there is a lesson being delivered to us humans by that beautiful and diligent member of nature.

If you are endowed with the ability for it, work; don’t rely on others to do in life what you should be doing for yourself. Respect your surroundings; we didn’t create them – they were provided free-of-charge for our benefit by a  Force which we can respect, but which we will never quite fathom this side of The Great Divide.

That’s a pretty tough prescription for us tough-as-nails New Jerseyans to swallow – at least that’s what we think. But even butterflies can prosper in The Garden State.

Note:  Photo by Dick Bergeron, 6-28-2010