I mustn't let this week go by without sharing an unusual experience here in our Paradise. People smile when I call it a 'Paradise". They look quizzical
when I speak of [our community] as a" Monastery" , "Nunnery," "Cocoon," "Learning Center," "God's Waiting Room," and " Our 40 acre Garden." It's just wonderful
to live here.
Last Monday Carol and I looked out our windows in early afternoon to see what looked like a cloud of Locust flying by. Going to the windows of our lovely
little cottage I saw, not locusts, but butterflies flying very fast Some of them stopped and began to feed on our Margeritias -- the yellow flowers that
have not stopped blooming for the past 3 1/2 years we have lived here. We watched closely looking through the window. One butterfly about 2 and a half inches
in size with purple blue and brownish yellow wings sucked for a full two minutes on a flower and then joined the flying armada of butterflies. For about 20 minutes
I watched and then went down to our Swimming pool and saw that many had drunk water from the pool. The next day there was a smaller but similar fly-by in
the afternoon sunshine.
The evening news showed colored pictures and explained the phenomenon . Millions of butterflies were on their way to Oregon and the Northwest. There has been
a population explosion in northern Mexico. . These butterflies are known as Vanessa Cardi.
"They" said the naturalist, "had an urge to find more room. They want to feed in a place where there are more plants to feed on. These small orange, white
and black creatures were on a dispersal flight. They feel the pressure of their numbers either by chemical or tactile means (like running into each other).
That prompts them to move elsewhere to disperse their population," Dr. David Faulkner, research associate with the Natural Museum here in San Diego, pointed
it "that the recent rains, which were more than usual, caused abundant plant growth, which increased the survival rate of caterpillars, and in turn, butterflies."
Wow! what a wonderful miracle world we live in! So I say to you what John and CC carved on a beautiful piece of wood and placed in our "Shiklehaus" cabin.
A good admonition to me and all of us:
"Never walk so fast that you cant smell the flowers "
Thinking of you in love and appreciation.
Caleb
