Retrospective: The Butterfly Effect

Hmmm, can I initiate a rippleof good will that sends hope on the wing far and wide?

I usually wait untilwinter sets in before I do my first retrospective of the winged wonders that Icrossed paths with in my summer hikes. But my posts have been rather gloomylately as I dig around in the messy issues that are dominating our society. Soin the interest of lightening the mood, I am turning over this post to thebutterflies of summer.

This striking butterflyis a Giant Swallowtail – so namedbecause of its large size. With a wingspan of about five inches, it is thebiggest butterfly that graces our fields and meadows and typically arrives inmid to late summer as it expands north across the Great Lakes. It flies with agraceful series of strong flaps and short glides.

Silver-spottedSkippers like the oneabove are early birds. They start appearing in early June if the weather iswarm enough. Named for the large silver spot in the wings, they are quitecommon, very photogenic and quite cooperative. This lovely specimen perchedperfectly on a broad flat leaf to be photographed.

RedAdmirals are quitecommon in these parts but always command attention with their splash of red,orange, black and chocolate brown. They are hyperactive active dashing aboutfrantically and erratically as if in a mad rush to get somewhere. Red Admiralsare a pugnacious species that darts out at anything crossing their territoryincluding humans.

No butterflyretrospective would be complete without the GreatSpangled Fritillary. It is the most eye-catching butterfly in our area withits bright golden upper wing with black markings and the gaudy silver spots onthe underwing. It is also among the larger butterflies here with a wingspan ofabout three inches and lights up any meadow it frequents.

This year was in fact arelatively poor one for butterflies in terms of numbers. It may have been thedrought conditions that prevailed which made them scarce. But although theywere fewer in number, they still were an infusion of beauty and grace.

The butterfly effect metaphor denotes that small things can have a bigeffect – i.e. a butterfly flapping its wings causes a chain reaction which resultsin a major change somewhere in the world. So if this retrospective of wingedwonders lifts your spirit, let us hope the ripple effect crosses the planet andspreads good will and hope at a time when it is very much needed.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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