Love at First Bite
A butterfly flew straight towards me, without any introduction, and landed on my bright Caribbean blue sundress. The one that I wear when I’m gardening with the palm trees on pink islands and yellow hibiscus flowers on it.
“It was a swallowtail,” my friend later told me when I described its yellow and black striped body.
The butterflies certainly are active this time of year. A second one landed on me later. I take it as a compliment to be mistaken for a flower. But once, when my sister, Sherry and I were at a Florida zoo with my grandmother, a goat in the petting zoo tried to eat my dress. That time I screamed and ran away.
August 20th, 2005 9:38 am
Hello, Michele sent me! I’m visiting from the meet-n-greet. An excellent post, which really hit home with me.
My mother had a dragonfly land on her recently and it stayed with her for along time. The mosquitoes didn’t bother at all while she had her friend with her.
Our goats — and pigs, too — will try and munch on people they meet. It’s best not to get too close, I guess. My wife does most of the animal feeding and she’s worried her butt’s gonna get chewed off — literally!! Oh, and her name is Sherry!
I’ve been mistaken for a local in Paris when someone came up to me and asked for directions. I think it was my shoes. Americans mostly wear sneakers. I wear real shoes, usually European shoes.
But nobody has ever tried to eat me. Except for mosquitoes, that is.
August 20th, 2005 9:48 am
Good morning, Colleen. Michele sent me, but you know I would be here shortly anyway.
A goat once tried to eat my shoes and purse. I was in a petting zoo with my first child, and we had to leave because the goat would not leave me alone.
August 20th, 2005 9:56 am
Saw lots of dancing butterflies on my hikes this past weekend. They were everywhere! They didn’t land on us, but we were pretty pungent with hiking sweat.
August 20th, 2005 11:11 am
Ha!! Not always so good to be so sweet.
August 20th, 2005 12:14 pm
Hi Michele sent me. It’s been years since I’ve seen a butterfly. Think I’ve been living in the wrong places.
August 20th, 2005 12:18 pm
I love all the butterflies this time of year. Makes my yard so pretty.
Here via Michele’s
August 20th, 2005 12:29 pm
Loved the story! Thanks for stopping by, I enjoyed my visit here 🙂
-H
August 20th, 2005 1:36 pm
You are a flower indeed!
August 20th, 2005 4:35 pm
Nah..it’s cause you’re so sweet ;0) Hope your aren’t wearing the same dress! LOL!
August 20th, 2005 4:35 pm
Nah..it’s cause you’re so sweet ;0) Hope your aren’t wearing the same dress! LOL!
August 20th, 2005 5:45 pm
Beautiful Flowers.
August 20th, 2005 9:06 pm
Goats didn’t get their reputation for eating anything and everything by pure fiction. 🙂
Funny, we’re both thinking butterflies today.
August 21st, 2005 5:30 pm
I am also loving all the butterflies, but haven’t had one bee that friendly. I had a pig bite my little toe at a petting zoo when I was about 6 years old–but I still like to take my niece.
August 21st, 2005 9:21 pm
Looks like an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. According to my field guide the caterpillar eats foliage of wild cherry, birch, poplar, ash, and tulip trees. “This butterfly’s caterpillars are solitary feeders. Each spins a silken mat on a leaf, curling the leaf into a shelter. There are 2 generations in the North; several in the South.”
I remember my thrill at seeing a Zebra Swallowtail when we first moved down here. I once rescued a dragonfly from a friend’s pool — it stayed on my finger for about 20 minutes until its wings dried sufficiently for it to fly away. Pure magic.
August 25th, 2005 4:57 am
What a lovely story Colleen… I’ve been reading and trying to catch up a little on all your wonderful writings.
This one reminded me of a llama who became quite friendly with me up at a petting zoo on Mount Charleston, in Nevada. I was bent over feeding ducks in a pond and he was standing next to me EATING my straw purse the whole time (I didn’t know he was eating it until there was a huge hole in the corner).
Nice writing … as always