Monarch Season

We’re going to look for some monarchs to see through the caterpillar –> chrysalis –> butterfly cycle again this year. I’ve seen several articles recently about the butterflies being classed as officially endangered. It’s been a number of years since I did this, and I’d like to help make sure at least a few make it through the earthbound phase of their lives.

This video is from 2012. Before that year, when my daughters and I were immersed in nature study, I assumed caterpillars always formed the chrysalis from outside; in truth it’s a much more uncomfortable looking process of enduring its emergence from within. It’s a good metaphor for other kinds of important change — and one I hope to be able to observe again this year. Maybe I can make another video… though I treasure this one, with its shifting reflections of young faces in the aquarium glass.

Music: Liz Story, “Welcome Home”