Now Covered In White

Advent Calendar / 3 December

Now covered in white
are the paths I used to walk
watching butterflies

Quotation of the Week (36/2010)

“I think there will always be a surplus of longing in man. That nothing will ever be quite enough.“

~Johannes Anyuru ~
(Swedish poet, born 1979)

 

“Feeling and longing are the motive forces behind all human endeavor and human creations.”

~Albert Einstein (1879-1955)~

Photo: Small Tortoiseshell butterfly © DawnTreader 2010

The Dance (Again)

The answer to yesterday’s mystery picture: It is made from the photos in Sunday’s Turn Around post. I.e. the seven pictures of the Peacock butterfly slowly turning on top of cone flower, all mixed together.

Quotation of the Week 34/2010

“May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.”
~Irish Blessing~

Turn Around

Within walking distance from where I live there is a little park which in my own mind I call the Butterfly Park, since last summer I got to see and take photos of several different kinds of butterflies there. (I’ve only been living in this part of town two years, and it was only last summer that I started bringing my camera on almost every walk.)

Earlier this summer I complained (I think it was in my other blog) that there didn’t seem to be any butterflies around this year. But now they’re back, and I’m very happy to see them.

Yesterday it was raining most of the day, and I was having a rather miserable day from ache-and-pains point of view. (Actually, to be honest - from almost any point of view.) 

But in the afternoon I managed a short walk in between showers, and then I found this beautiful peacock butterfly in the park, performing a little “dance” for me – slowly turning around on top of a white cone flower, with its wings spread out (probably to dry!).

~♥~♥~♥~

Putting the pictures all in a row for this post, and writing as far as the paragraph above, the hymn “Lord of the Dance” came to mind for me.

I was reminded that I’ve always been curious about the origin of this song. So now I looked it up.

It has sometimes been said that this is an old traditional hymn, but it was written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1967. However, he adapted the tune from an older American Shaker dance song "Simple Gifts"; and the lyrics follow the idea of a traditional English carol, "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" which tells the gospel story in the first person voice of Jesus of Nazareth.

Before I started this research, I had already put down Turn Around as the title of my post.

When I looked up the Simple Gifts lyrics (which I can’t remember ever hearing), this is what I found:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free,
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Does that fit my turning butterfly, or what?!

"Simple Gifts" was written by Elder Joseph at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848.

Below is a YouTube video of Lord of the Dance performed by the Dubliners; and the lyrics to that.

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

I danced in the morning when the world was young
I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun
I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth

I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame
They ripped, they stripped, they hung me high
Left me there on the hill to die

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body, they thought I was gone
But I am the dance, and the dance goes on

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that will never, never die
I'll live in you if you'll live in me
I am the Lord of the dance, said he

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

Spring Is Here

There are more and more signs of spring. I can’t remember the name of these blue flowers (in any language) – I think they’re some kind of runaway garden flower rather than properly “wild”. I found them in a small grove close to some apartment buildings yesterday, together with mini daffodils…

… and some more Small Tortoiseshell butterflies…

It’s good to see them back!

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, I’m not terribly good at bending down to the ground and holding my camera completely still at the same time…!

Another sign of spring is the sound of the gulls. I live an hour’s drive (or so) away from the coast, but they follow the river (I suppose) in the spring and come inland. Yesterday afternoon, I sat for a little while in the sun on my balcony… Closing my eyes, hearing the gulls, I get the feeling of being by the sea… I also see them circling in the sky high above me, but no use trying to catch them with my camera from that distance. 

There is definitely life in my clematis plant on the balcony – the buds are swelling. But the box of garden strawberry plants seemed to have given up.  (I’ve had that box for years without being able to add any new soil, and this winter was extremely cold.) So I’ve got rid of that now.

Butterflies and Parcels

Not sure I've experienced it before: +14°C (57°F) with snow still covering the ground in many places. Strange! And I swear a saw a butterfly! although I was too far away from it to determine what kind. Seemed rather big and dark, so possibly a Red Admiral - I was just reading about those the other day and it seems they do hibernate and sometimes come out early. From its aimless fluttering over the middle of a town street I got the impression it was feeling a bit confused. Probably regretted getting out of bed, because there would still be some difficulties finding any breakfast...

Myself I've been to the supermarket twice. First in the morning, and then again in the afternoon, because the supermarket is also nowadays the post office.

Ordering things on the internet is simple, but the actual delivery is sometimes another matter. In this case, a couple of books. On the internet order form I chose a private delivery service, and to pick up the parcel at a small shop close to where I live. Then I got one of those double-checking questions: "Are you sure? Because according to our information, that's not the closest place to where you live." Well, excuse me! I live here. Trust me, it would be the most convenient place for me to pick up the parcel; that's why I chose it. Even if the zip code might indicate something else.

Okay, they seemed to accept that. Then I got an email: They had packed my books, and were feeling confident that the parcel was small enough to fit into my mailbox, so they were going to send it as a letter through the post. Well, good for them, although I did not quite share their confidence. Then I got a cheerful text message from the Post Office: They just wanted to let me know that a letter had been handed in to them and was on its way to me. Isn't that nice? Being made such a fuss of, you almost begin to feel like an Important Customer, having ordered something really Valuable. But then of course today they ruined the illusion by another text message, in a harsher tone of voice: They could not deliver my letter. If I wanted it, I had to come and get it.

Ah well. Never mind. Two weeks ago it would have caused me problems. Today, with spring in the air and the pavements ice-free - not so much. Even if I really do think the parcel/letter would have fitted into my mailbox (=slit in the door)...

We Have a Situation

The snow plough actually did come around just after I finished my blog post yesterday. However, Eeyore's predictions were spot on: More "blizzards and what-not" set in just about an hour later!

Getting up this morning, I found that the Snow Situation had actually gone beyond plain boring to becoming sort of interesting again. Even the snow ploughs seem to have realized that. I ventured out for a walk with the camera later on and I don't think I've ever seen so many busy snow ploughs.

It did say in the paper yesterday that the town authorities had finally decided they had to start getting rid of the snow in the central parts of town; so now they are driving away truckloads of it to dump in a more out-of-the-way place.

I live about half-way between the town centre and the out-of-the-way place.



It was still snowing when I went out, but the wind had calmed down.
I ended up going for quite a long walk, considering the snow.



Somewhere around here (there is a park beyond those hedges, but the walkways in there do not get ploughed in winter), I used to take photos of busy butterflies:



Can you believe that?!

Butterfly Collection

Today I came across this butterfly.
At first glance from a distance, I thought it was...



... a Painted Lady - Cynthia cardui? But no...



... or a Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae? But no...



... or a Peacock - Inachis io? But no...



... It was a Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta!

I have learnt a lot this summer! :)
(All pictures my own and from 2009.)

Quotation of the Week (38/09)

Gonepteryx rhamni - Common Brimstone

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

Hans Christian Andersen

Quotation of the Week (37/09)

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804-1864, American novelist and short story writer)

 Aglais Urticae - Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

On a walk through a park this past weekend, I came upon not only one but a whole lot of these butterflies. With my camera,  it is hard to get a good shot of more than one at a time. But if you look closely, there are three in the photo below. (The first photo is mine, too, taken on the same occasion in macro close-up mode.)

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Peacock Butterfly

Peacock butterfly - Inachis io

I had no idea of its name when I took the picture
(two days ago), but managed to look it up.
Again a photo taken in close-up macro mode.
I just love how the colours of the wings
match the colours of the flowers.