Back to School

Today was the first day of school and it seemed to put the weekend in the distant past. We had a great time on the farm. I got plenty of butterfly watching in and managed to get a few good pictures. Watching butterflies seems to have its own rhythm. You can’t make them pose or stop to get a picture. If you want to watch for any length of time you have to come to terms with being on their schedule and not yours. You also have no idea which kind will show up. I noticed that after a few days I would recognize the same butterfly from one day to the next. Different species also had different behaviors. Some fly slow and easy while other were so fast they were hard to follow. Keeping track, I ended up with positive identification of 14 different species. I observed two different butterflies that belong to the Skipper family and one that belongs to the Sulfur family. Each of these groups has dozens of different species that are hard to tell apart. I can’t help with all of the identification, my dad is a wildlife biologist and everything observed needs to be identified. I think its human nature from the beginning; after all it was Adams first big job. (see Genesis 2: 19-20) I think the best part about watching butterflies is just how intricate and beautiful they are. The funny part is that the only thing as beautiful as butterflies is the flowers they are attracted to. The beauty goes beyond the visible. Each is completely dependant on the other for survival and the relationship adds to the others existence. To sit a think about it is to ponder our very existence.

The other big highlight from the weekend was the play my kids put on for the grownups. It took them a few days to work out the screen play and the props and music. The play was called “The Flower Girl” and had a well developed script with each actor required to memorize their lines. My mom, a life long organist at every church we ever belonged to, played the music for the wedding scene. The play also had an intermission so my youngest could tell his scary story for the audience. The whole thing was fantastic. I’m going to try and get the scary story on paper. It was pretty scary from a five year old. Forgive me if I sound preachy or come off as a bragger but my kids are not allowed to watch TV and this is the kind of stuff they come up with to fill the day. The slide show is from the farm this past weekend.