Caterpillars to Butterflies by Margaret Ullrich, part 3, Weeding

The Mama Robin and her chick have come back to our yard.

Compared to the youngster who was here a few weeks ago, this kid is better behaved.

He likes to walk around and explore.

He doesn't just stand and squawk, with its mouth wide open.

He's actually trying to find his own food.

A few years ago I bought a package of butterfly-attracting plants.

There were four different types of plants.

Only the milkweed keeps coming back every year.

A few weeks ago it had tiny pinkish white flowers.

Well, I didn't plant it for its flowers.

To butterflies the flowers mean "Please come here".

When he visited, Pop wasn't too impressed with my garden.

To him flowers were a waste of space.

Just another form of weeds.

Well, it's my garden and I like flowers, too.

It's been a drier than normal summer.

My garden is looking a little tired.

We've been having thunderstorms.

But, thunder doesn't water the plants.

I can see why Pop liked watering the garden.

You get to see how everything is doing.

You even get to see some surprise visitors up close.

This week, on top of one of my milkweeds, I saw a caterpillar.

It has yellow, black and white stripes.

So, one day it'll be a Monarch butterfly.

How lovely!

Last week I mentioned I'd passed the time of marking periods. 

I now use the moon as a month marker.

The moon marks the start of a new beginning.

Or at least it should.

The moon is now half-way to new.

It doesn't do anything special to go through its stages.

But a butterfly is a living being.

How does it know when to go from egg to larva to pupa to adult?

How do humans?

Toward the end of The Godfather ll, Michael tells his mother, "Tempo cambia."

Time changes.

Caterpillars crawl.

Butterflies fly.

What was the right thing once, may not be the right thing anymore.

It's time to examine what I do.

Some things are still right to do.

Some things aren't.

I know Pop wouldn't have wasted space on a plant he couldn't eat.

Especially one with unattractive flowers.

To him the milkweed would truly be a weed.

But I like butterflies.

So, the milkweed stays.