Monarch butterflies will soon be on the wing. Spring is coming, and they are getting ready to move. I can feel it in the air, the travel urge, because spring softens the air here in Tucson, blowing the dust around and whispering of all the possibilities in the universe. Get ready to fly! And I’ve…READ MORE >
Beyond the Back Forty
Almost Spring
Funny how overheard remarks get caught in the memory. A lifetime ago, I published a weekly newspaper in a small rural community, and one day I overheard a nurse in our medical clinic talking about me. I don’t think she knew I was there in the clinic lobby, while she was one room deeper…READ MORE >
Always Thinking of Something to Eat
Comes a new year, and I find a time to pause in my butterfly report. The holiday season has been pleasantly busy for us at Living Traditional Arts, and part of the activity has been a dispersal of many of the food related paintings from the Living Traditional Arts Shop. Andrew Bick’s food photos…READ MORE >
Last Summer, Still Looking for Monarchs
Last summer in Wisconsin we saw vibrant greens and blues, lit by golden sun through clear pleasant air. I kept watching for the sharp accent of orange and black of the Monarch butterfly, and for a long time I didn’t have much luck. Even on that valley farm so beautiful that we used the word…READ MORE >
Butterfly Tale Two
A brief stop at Bakke Farm, then over one ridge and across two rivers to the beautiful valley farm of a friend who said, yes, she had seen a Monarch this summer. One. It was still July, and I’d been thinking about Monarch butterflies. Her place, grown lush in the moderate summer weather that settled…READ MORE >
The Butterfly Tale
We got to Wisconsin in the summer. It was July, and we saw a few fireflies. There was a feeling in the air. I had to ask. “Seen any Monarch butterflies this year?” We visited a lot of people and I asked often. No one said they’d seen more than one, most said, “No, none…READ MORE >