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2009
Jun – 1
7
10
26
30 December –
21
2008
September – 12
October – 28
November – 7
February – 10
March – 9
11 August –
10
11
13
2007
April – 1
5
10
11
14
19
24
26
May – 2
January – 1
2
5
8
13
15
22
30
February – 7
8
12
2006
December – 1
2
3
4
5
8
9
10
11
13
15
17
19
24
25
27
November – 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
The Butterfly and the Robin
January 15, 2007
Once upon a time in Fayetteville, North Carolina, there
lived a happy family in a big house atop a hill overlooking
a beautiful lake, a forest, and a noisy Kangaroo gas station
across the street.
The father (lets call him Leon) harbored fond memories of
his daughter’s delight and happiness (lets call her Sondra)
whenever she spotted a butterfly in the trees near the
house.
So at Christmas time, Leon purchased a small
butterfly habitat for Sondra, so she could watch
butterflies grow and then set them free in the forest. The butterfly
larvae had to be ordered separately so they would arrive at
the proper time of year to be born. All
winter long, Sondra looked forward to the arrival of
her butterflies.
In the second week of April, four tiny butterfly larvae
arrived via mail in a small jar with
food inside to last 11 or 12 days. Over the next week and a
half, the larvae grew fat, climbed to the top of the jar and
attached themselves to the underside of the lid.
Sondra carefully detached each pupa from the lid and gingerly
transferred it from the jar into the butterfly habitat. She discovered, to her dismay that one of the
larva had died. That made her very sad, but being a “glass is half
full” personality type, she looked forward to watching the
remaining three butterflies emerge from their cocoons.
Several days later, much to everyone’s delight, three
small, colorful “Painted Lady” butterflies emerged from
their cocoons. It wasn’t long before they spread their wings
to show off a rainbow of beautiful colors. It was time to
set them free.
On the very next day, Sondra took the artificial
habitat outside so the newly-born butterflies
could get used to the outside temperature. She opened the top of the
habitat to let them fly out. The butterflies seemed a bit
confused and just stayed where they were. Sondra stuck her
hand into the habitat; coaxed one of the butterflies onto
her finger and then waved her hand gently in the open air.
The butterfly would not fly.
Sondra blew gently on the butterfly for encouragement.
It flapped its wings a few times and flew off in the
direction of a nearby tree. It had flown only six or seven
feet when there was a sudden flash of grey and the butterfly disappeared.
Sondra looked
incredulously at Leon and asked, “Did a bird just swoop my
butterfly?” Leon suspected foul play but said nothing.
Then, just like a cat proudly bringing a captured mouse into
the house to show off to its master; a large fat robin landed on
the ground not two feet from the deck. Butterfly wings
protruded from both sides of the robin’s beak. The robin proceeded to
eat the butterfly in plain view of Sondra and Leon. When it
was done, it flew off in the direction of the roof. The only
evidence the butterfly had ever existed was a small piece of
its colorful wing lying broken on the ground.
Sondra was heartbroken. She had unwittingly released
her new-born butterfly to its death. The remaining two
butterflies stopped flapping their wings as if they knew
what had happened. An aura of sadness descended on the
family. An exciting and happy event had turned tragic.
Sondra closed the top of the habitat and decided to wait a
few hours before attempting another release. She hoped the
robin would go elsewhere to hunt.
Later that same day, Sondra tried to free another butterfly
but this time it would not climb onto her finger. Leon
cupped his hand around the butterfly and removed it from the
habitat. He opened his hand and the butterfly flew off in
the direction of the roof. This time Sondra saw the robin
swoop out of the sky towards the butterfly but the roof
obscured her view and she could not see what happened after
that. She assumed the worst.
There was only one butterfly left. Sondra thought she might
be able to deceive the robin by releasing her last butterfly
from the other side of the house where the trees were
closer. She carried the habitat to the back of the house,
gently took the butterfly out of its habitat and launched it
into the air. Sondra and Leon both cheered as the butterfly
headed towards the trees.
Unfortunately, the wobbly butterfly flew straight through
the trees where it might have found protection, and headed
for the road and heavy traffic. Sondra lost sight of it.
Whether the butterfly made it across the street is anybody’s
guess. If a windshield did not prematurely end its short
life, it may have succumbed to the exhaust fumes from all
the SUVs and trucks driving by. Sondra never saw her
butterfly reach the other side of the road.
Leon sees her every day though, checking the trees around
the house in hopes that her butterfly has returned.
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