Last weekend I was in our bedroom folding clothes when I heard Tripp exclaim, “Babe! You gotta see this cool butterfly I just found!”
As he came upstairs into our room, I saw that he was gently holding something between two layers of paper towels. He went on to explain that he had just brought his pool towels inside to wash them, and when he unfolded one of the towels to set it in the washer a butterfly was tucked inside. And when he opened the paper towels to show me, it was a beautiful tiger swallowtail! And it was still alive!
Tripp was worried that he had hurt it by gathering up the towel or by picking the butterfly up by its wings, but its body didn’t appear to be damaged and its wings were still moving a little. So he passed the butterfly off to me and I rushed downstairs to take it out to my zinnia patch in the backyard and gently placed it on one of the larger flowers.
It didn’t immediately fly off, but it I could see its wings were still moving. So I said a little prayer with the hope that it just needed a minute to regroup after its ordeal.
Tripp was baffled at how a big butterfly like this wound up tucked inside a towel that was hanging outside. Since it looked healthy and its wings weren’t especially faded or damaged, I wondered if a larva had somehow made its way into the folds of the towel to make a chrysalis, but Tripp said he had used it the day before. So then the only other real possibility was that it had probably just found the towel to be a safe place to shelter from the previous night’s rain and storms.
The rest of the afternoon I kept checking on our butterfly. A few times I saw it open and stretch its wings out wide, but it hadn’t moved it all. And it was still in the same place when Tripp and I left to go out for dinner later that evening. As Tripp backed the truck down the driveway, I told him that I knew it was silly to be so worried about a butterfly, and he admitted that he felt bad and hoped he didn’t hurt it. So I reminded him (and myself) that we did everything we could to save it and also added that I had seen butterflies flying around in a lot worse shape before, so it would probably be OK. It just needed a little bit time.
When we got home a few hours later it was dark, and the first thing I did was go over to the zinnias to look for our butterfly. And it was gone! I started crying and Tripp got out the flashlight on his phone and shined it all over the flowerbed. But it hadn’t fallen to the ground or moved to a different flower. It had flown off. And I thought my heart my burst with joy and relief.
In a month that has felt so very heavy and dark and hard, I am so thankful for this beautiful moment of joy and delight. I hope it lifts your spirit as much as it has mine.
Love, Kelly
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