Butterfly House
Butterflies have always drawn me in. I still cherish a book a picked up at my college book store on the journey of the Monarch butterfly. I show my children the color photographs of their amazing journey from time to time ~ as a gentle reminder of the shared adventure of life we are on. One of change and transformation, always balancing strength and fragility. We are filled with duality. Oh the butterfly. The image of Psyche wearing butterfly wings ~ it will always speak to my soul.
On a more grounded note, we had a chance to meander through the gardens, woods, and quaint butterfly house at Miller Nature Preserve today. What a beautiful little place, filled with landscaping obviously made with much love. The Crooked River Kids Network had a meet-up there today to feed the butterflies and I was amazed I had not been to this gem of a place before. Local explorations are amazing because every time I think I've seen it all, there is always so much more.
We fed the butterflies sugar water and learned that we can easily make this at home. Of course that is now on our list of things we'd love to try. The kids were fascinated with fluttering beauties and I had a full heart as I watched them patiently wait for their winged friends to land on their sugar water q-tip held up in the air. So much symbolism I could hardly contain myself (there's that artist mom talking again!).
Afterwards the kids ran to the maze of flowers. One of my favorite shots is of my daughter running through the roses. Reminds me of the secret garden / alice in wonderland mentality. So easy to fall down the rabbit hole when we let them outside and truly allow them to be little, is it not?
Last but not least...the image of the glass greenhouse. Haunting. The storm clouds were rolling in before we set off to hike in the woods. We knew the rain would catch us but we didn't care. We never made it into the greenhouse this trip but I was happy to stare at the beautiful structure that seemed to touch the clouds. The outside of the house was simply mesmerizing. What can I say, my creative mind was on overdrive that day.
The take away here is to be like the butterfly and the roses and the glass house. Let the sun shine down on you, seek change, and watch the growth in you and your little ones take place. There are hidden gems just waiting to be explored all around you. Slow down a bit and explore. Nature never disappoints!
