MORE ON MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

 After sharing my post on September 1 regarding monarch caterpillars and butterflies, I discovered one of those pictured caterpillars preparing to go into its chrysalis phase.

It was hanging from one of the milkweed leaves, very still.  I thought it might be dying or already dead.  But it was also an opportunity to witness the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly if it was alive.

I cut a portion of the milkweed, including the leaf the caterpillar was suspended from, and put it in a vase.  I didn't expect to find much more than a dead caterpillar when I got up in the morning.  Boy, was I surprised!

Waiting for me was a beautiful green chrysalis that was adorned with golden specks.

Metamorphosis, changing from caterpillar to butterfly, takes from nine to fourteen days.  I kept close watch, but nothing happened in the first eleven days.  But on day twelve, I noted that the green was changing.  By the time I went to bed, the colorful wings could be seen through the now translucent chrysalis.  I was confident that within 24 hours, a butterfly would emerge.

This morning, with the colors even more vivid, I decided to take the chrysalis outdoors.  My plan was to see the butterfly appear, watch as it hung and its wings dried and then move it to the milkweed from where it would finally fly away.

I took the daily crossword puzzle, camera and cup of coffee to the porch and got comfortable in the chair where I was prepared to spend most of the day.  But before an hour had passed, I looked up just as the butterfly slipped from the chrysalis!  It hung there for about an hour, its wings slowly straightening.  Eventually I moved it to the milkweed plants where it spent the afternoon until it flew away.

If you're interested in reading more about monarch butterflies, I found this link informative:
http://butterflybushes.com/monarch_

metamorphosis.htm

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Last summer Grandma Sherry had an abundance of ornamental milkweed that she'd planted.  I don't know whether she intended to host monarch butterfly caterpillars, but that is indeed what she did.  By late summer multiple caterpillars seemed to be on every plant, and there were a lot of plants. Looking for the caterpillars was like looking for Easter eggs.  

Eventually the caterpillars disappeared, but were discovered as chrysalises hanging from the siding and soffit of her condo.  We were diligent as we watched day to day as the chrysalises changed from light green to translucent and the colorful wings could be seen as they matured.  And ultimately there came the bittersweet days as we watched the butterflies emerge, quickly dry their wings and fly off.

From www.monarchbutterflyusa.com, "The total time frame for one butterfly's life cycle (one generation) is about 6-8 weeks . . . egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. It grows inside the egg for about 4 days. It then munches milkweed and grows as a monarch caterpillar (larvae) for about 2 more weeks. The caterpillar's life inside the chrysalis (pupa) lasts about 10 days and its wonderful life as an adult butterfly lasts from 2 - 6 weeks."

Early in the spring I purchased some milkweed seeds.  Around Mother's Day, when the chance of frost is said to be past, the kids cultivated the small dirt strip along my patio and planted the seeds.  As I sit here now, I count six plants.  Three are healthy, although no milk pods have appeared, one looks puny, and two are merely marking time until frost takes them.

Caterpillars - top middle and lower right

About a month ago, Sophia ran into the house to announce she'd found a caterpillar!  We went out together and found four.  In the next three days, they all disappeared, off to find a spot for their chrysalises.  

In fact, I watched one as it left the plant, crawled up the hibiscus planter and eventually disappeared into the shrub.  I presume all made their way to safety.

Last week I was sitting on the porch and saw a monarch butterfly hanging from the limb of a nearby plant, slowly opening and closing its wings.  I bent down, encouraged it to climb onto my finger, and moved it to the butterfly plant.  There it stayed, continuing to open and close its wings.  When I looked later in the evening it was gone.

Once again, this afternoon  I am sitting on the patio.  A few minutes ago I glanced at the largest of the plants and saw a new caterpillar. Closer inspection revealed a second, and both are about half the size of a mature caterpillar!  This is the third "crop" of caterpillars, and I am in awe at being able to witness the monarch's life cycle!

VACATIONING WITH ADOLESCENTS

Dawn wanted to do something special with Brandon and Sophia this summer.  I think she based her decision on destinations on what we did as a family -- every summer from the time she was one until she and Brett were in their teens we spent a week in a timeshare in Myrtle Beach.  

Her second family and their daughter, her close friend since childhood, offered the use of their channel house there.  Vacation destination chosen!  And Brandon and Sophia were eager to go to the beach.

Twenty minutes -- a mere twenty miles outside of Canton -- the bickering in the backseat started.  Brandon couldn't look at Sophia without her being offended and tattling.  Then Brandon started reaching out to Sophia, pointing a finger as though he were prepared to poke or touch her.  More howls from Sophia.   Then Brandon complained that he was cramped and tried to straighten his legs toward Sophia's side of the car.  More wailing.  Seven hours of this.  

Dawn and I had threatened after arriving at our evening destination to put Brandon  in the passenger seat next to the driver the next morning.  He promised that he'd not antagonize Sophia and wanted to remain next to her.  But the experience Dawn and I shared the previous day weighed heavily on our decision to have Brandon occupy the front seat for the rest of the trip.  I was about as happy sitting in the back seat as Brandon was in the front, but the cacophany of arguing and tattling stopped.

Weather was great.  This was the beach, after all, so it was hot -- in the 90's.  But the house is only a couple short blocks from the ocean and the beach was clean and big.  After unloading the car we walked down to the beach and just after the three of them got into the water, the life guard pulled them out, pointing to a possibly dangerous bank of clouds moving over the city.  So it was back to the house to shower and then we headed out to shop for groceries.

Although Dawn and Sophia made it to the beach every day for a couple hours, Brandon suffered from chafed thighs and put away his swimming suit Tuesday.  And then he complained that he was bored as he laid around the house and played games on his iPod.  

Evenings we went out for dinner and occasionally extended the evening with entertainment such as Grand Prix car racing.  Sophia is still talking about the Skydrop.  The three were tethered together, hauled by a pulley to the top of a tower, and then released to free fall.  Scream?  Oh, yes!  At the bottom of the fall, they simply swung back and forth as the arc's path shortened until they could be returned to the "launch area" and be released from the apparatus. 

Ripley's touted their new exhibit on sharks, so we visited the aquarium.  We went early in the day and still stood in line for 30-45 minutes to purchase tickets.  Once inside, we walked to the line to the shark display.  What a waste of time.  Lots of displays, but not the shark exhibit we'd anticipated.  But the highlight was next -- the aquarium itself.  We stood on a people-mover walk and were able to see lots of sharks and a variety of fish.  The kids weren't bored since with all the movement in the water, there was no lack of interesting activity.  When we finally exited the aquarium the line to see the shark exhibit was three times as long as when we'd stood in it.  Poor souls.

Brandon's favorite activity ... wait for it ... was shopping at the Tanger outlet!  They have an Under Armour store there and he loves their apparel.  Dawn loves Coach, and there was a store for her.  Sophia likes jewelry and Claire's has a shop.  Dawn got her purse,  Brandon got some shorts and Sophia got jewelry.  I bought some socks.  Both kids have new "Lids".  Brandon tried to talk Sophia into a hat that he figured he'd quickly inherit from her.  But she wasn't having any of it.  Good girl, Sophia!

On Friday, Brandon said he was anxious to come home.  He missed his cat, as Sophia missed hers, and he wanted to begin cleaning so we could leave Saturday instead of the planned return on Sunday.   Dawn and I realized that another 11 hours in the car with Brandon and Sophia, all of it in one day, was more than we were up for.  So we got up early Saturday and the four of us cleaned.  After a last visit to the ocean for Dawn and Sophia, we headed for home around 3:00 Saturday afternoon.  We spent the night in Charlotte, hit the road at 9:00 Sunday morning and got home about 5:00.

I think Dawn's already decided that vacation next year will be a series of  three- or four-day periods spent at destinations no more than two hours from home.  And fortunately the kids like the idea of short trips.  Not far from here are popular amusement parks, a couple water parks, and even a Tanger outlet! There are even other activities here that aren't available at the beach.  Sounds like a good plan to me!

 

 

Contemplating the Happy Dance

Twenty years ago one of my brothers and I walked up a mountain in Arizona to scatter our mother's ashes in an area where she loved to hike.  Sometime during that walk, my knees began to hurt and swell.  Back home, a doctor diagnosed me with osteoarthritis.  I began treating the symptoms with OTC drugs and through the years, moved on to stronger prescription medication.  By the end of 2010, however, they had all become ineffective.  I was told,  "When it's time for surgery, you'll know it."

They were right.  When I was unable to sleep well at night, I realized it was time.   There was no hesitation because folks  who have had or know of someone who's had total joint replacement (TJR) universally comment, "I'm sorry I waited so long."   My date with the knife was June 10.  I was in the hospital at 9:00, surgery started at 11:30 and was completed by 1:30.

Let me say:  when I woke up there was no joint pain.  The hurting parts had been removed and replaced by "hardware".  Although I'd been told that the effects of the anesthetic would linger for up to 48 hours, that evening after surgery, I was assisted in moving from my bed to a chair.  And I was assured that I should put my full weight on my leg.  It felt wobbly, but it didn't hurt!  

During the overnight, I was visited hourly by the nurses who checked my vital signs and asked me if I needed anything.  I wanted to say, "Fewer visits", but understood that they were monitoring my condition. 

The incision is seven inches long and "sutured" with 25 staples.  Bruising is extensive and swelling interferes with bending my knee.  I repeatedly told the staff that I didn't have pain, just discomfort in the tissues that the surgery had impacted.  With feeling returning to my leg as the effects of the spinal ebbed, on Sunday I was assisted through a series of exercises that include knee bends, straight leg raises and the heel slides.  The heel slide is simple, but diabolical.  It is done by lying with the leg straight and slowly sliding the heel toward the tush as far as I can pull it, then allowing the heel to slide back until the leg is straight again.  There's a lot of discomfort, particularly when the therapist "assists" by pushing the foot a tad farther than I can pull!  But I must admit that in spite of the distress caused by stretching those muscles, my leg feels much better when the exercises have been completed.  A dose of vicodin helps, too!

I came home Monday, three days after surgery, and found the porch decorated with a plethora of flamingos in celebration of my return.


On Wednesday, I visited the physical therapy facility and on Friday, had my first therapy session.  It started with eight minutes of pedaling.  No pain!!!  I felt as though I could have pedaled much longer.  The now-familiar knee bends, leg lifts -- 20 of each -- were next.  But only 15 heel slides.  That's because the PT had saved five in which she pushed, probably watching for my eyes to roll to the back of my head!  A few more activities and then, at the end the session, I was introduced to the Squeeze and Freeze appliance.  This apparatus includes a shin-to-thigh sleeve that was wrapped around my leg and some chilling material pumped into it to "ice" my leg.  Ahhhhhhh.

I hope progress to recovery is speedy.  I want to get the right knee done before the end of the year.   I see the surgeon in a week to have the staples removed.  I'll ask him then if we can pencil me in on the schedule.

When Will It Stop? Three Months Later....

The last post bemoaned the snows of winter and asked, "When will it stop?"  It's now the middle of May and we continue asking, When will it stop?  But now it's rain.  And unrelenting sunless days with temperatures that require a light jacket and available umbrella.  Friends comment about aches and pains that will probably abate when the rain stops.  And yes,  I realize the folks along the flooded Mississippi River are suffering and in dire straits.  We're just unhappy here, not miserable.

I read an article in the morning newspaper about a reporter who interviewed some cyclists riding through Ohio on their way to the east coast.  A cyclist commented:  "Over half the people we've seen were mowing."  Obviously the group was passing through on a rain-free day.  When there's rain five out of seven days, a lot of yard work needs to be done quickly, before the next shower.  We haven't broken any records for accumulation, but frequency has to be acknowledged.  Here in the condo complex, we hire out the task and the company must deal as best they can with mowing five days worth of clients in two, providing those two days are weekdays and not weekends.  If they don't get to us again soon, we'll be baling instead of mowing.

With May came Mother's Day.  I'd asked Dawn a few days earlier if she still had a shepherd's hook I gave her a few years ago, because I wanted to borrow it to hang a bird feeder outside my front window.  Unfortunately it was gone, but she brought me a new one for Mother's Day, this one with two hooks.  I now have a feeder filled with thistle seeds that the finches have commandeered and a hummingbird feeder.  I've tried many times in the past to attract hummingbirds, but this is the first time I've been successful!  I've also planted milkweed and hope to have monarch butterflies later this summer.

When Will It Stop?

A winter weather warning was posted yesterday for our area.  Rain changing to freezing rain changing to snow.  We can expect 4 - 6" today and a similar amount through tomorrow.  So up to 12".  I say, "Enough already!"

The weather in so many areas has been really crazy this winter.  No need to tell you who have to cope with it.  It's right outside your windows.  Through the night I heard something tick-ticking against the window. I just pulled the covers higher and buried my nose in the blankets. But I had to get up eventually.

It was quiet outdoors. That's because anything horizontal is covered in fresh snow.  I don't think there's more than an inch or two yet, but the wind is blowing, so the snow is drifting.  In a couple hours there will be enough that when I lift the garage door, the pile against it will fall into the garage and I'll need to sweep/shovel it out in order to close the door.  And the wind will blow it back in.

But for the break a week ago when the temperature reached 40 and all the once white stuff melted, snow has covered the ground since December, before Christmas.  On Monday, fortunately a legal holiday and therefore, no schools were in session, we had 6" of storm-delivered snow. Today, again, schools are closed because of weather.  And this is the year the State legislature cut "snow days" from five to three.  It's possible the kids could have gotten to school, but also to be considered is getting them home.  At the rate we're going, students will be making up missed days into mid June.

I wake up mornings like this,  thankful that I don't have to go out, don't have to go to work. That benefit of being retired is worth being old enough to qualify!  Meanwhile, my thoughts are with people who fight the commute. Be careful out there!

BRANDON AND SOPHIA - 2010

January

It's Brandon's birthday!  He's 10.  Sophia was 7 last November.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December