Monday, September 29, 2008

New beginnings....

There is an old saying, "when you cut your own wood, it warms you twice." Those who have actually cut thier own wood know that in reality you are warmed more than twice by this exercise. There is the original cutting, then the splitting, stacking and hauling... all warming you before the wood is ever burnt.

On a crisp evening last week I grabbed a log to toss on the fire. Luckily I noticed that this log was festooned with the crysalis of a Monarch butterfly. I set it on the deck railing and watched all week. Saturday morning the green color of the chrysalis had faded to clear, and the pattern of butterfly wings was clearly visible. When I got home Saturday night this beauty was sitting inches above the now empty sack. This particular log warmed me in many ways, bearing the gift of this butterfly!

It rained all night, and the butterfly stayed right there. Mid afternoon on Sunday the weather cleared briefly, and the butterfly took off, a flitting orange shard over the autumn meadow. It amazes me to know that this delicate creature will now navigate thousands of miles from Maine to Mexico. It makes any challenges in my life seem rather insignificant!

With that story I welcome you to my blog. When I was learning vocabulary, the word "blog," did not exist. Yet here it is, and I have one. My goal is to share fragments of my life, play with words and pictures, and tell a tale or two. I hope it warms you.

1 comment:

Cheryl said...

Every year, when I bush hog our 7+ acres of pasture, I mow rings around two large patches of milkweed, so our Monarchs will find a welcome.
And firewood? Well, you know you've handled it a lot when you reconize pieces as they go into the woodstove ("Oh yeah, that's from the huge butt of the wild cherry we cut down at the edge of the field....")