Wow. I can't believe it's taken all summer to see one.
When I'm out and about on nice summer days I see all sorts of flora and fauna and, if I have a camera with me, will often take a picture of something that's nice. For almost the entirety of summer I've been waiting to take a picture of one particular thing, a thing I didn't actually see until two days ago.
Specifically, this beautiful creature--
I know monarch butterflies are on endangered species lists, but I didn't think they were so endangered that it would take until mid-August for me to come across one. A couple of years ago, the city of Marquette made a concerted effort to bolster the population, having people plant milkweed and other flowers that draw the butterflies. And for a while, it worked; the past few years the monarchs seemed to be everywhere.
But this year? Not so much. And that's sad.
I have no idea if, because of climate change and urbanization, the monarch will soon disappear from the face of the Earth. I hope not. But we're destroying the planet faster than we could ever imagine. The fact that it took me until August to see one of the butterflies will, I'm sure, one day be supplanted by “remember when we used to be able to see butterflies out in the wild?”
And that, of course, will be a sad, sad day.
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On that cheery note, have yourself a great weekend. Hope you get to see a butterfly or two!
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