A small blessing
A gift encounter, and why Skippers are butterflies.
Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave the house, I noticed a small Peck's Skipper butterfly resting on the side of my car, in full sun.
As I approached, she took flight, but instead of fluttering away, she traced a couple of loops in the air and surprisingly landed... on my watch! Now, the watch is arguably oversized for my wrist, but you can get a sense of how small Polites Peckius are.
I froze, my right arm held still in front of me. It felt quite special, and I didn't want to ruin the moment. Slowly (very slowly), I reached for the phone I was carrying in my shoulder sling and, without breathing, snapped a couple of pictures.
[NERD INTERMISSION: I'm not qualified to be the butterfly police (nor would I want to be), but Skippers are butterflies, and not moths, despite the rather subdued colors typical of their family. More on this in a future post, but one way to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth is to look at the tip of your insect's antennae. If the tip looks like a club or a hook, then you are likely dealing with a butterfly, as you can see in the photo below. END OF NERD INTERMISSION]
Back to the Skipper who landed on my watch.
I (should) know better than to antropormorphize insects and attribute them human feelings and motives. The Skipper was probably attracted by salt, or some other imperceptible scent on the surface of the watch, or on my skin; or by the bright glare of the glass. Maybe she was just resting.
But just a couple of days ago, I posted a small eulogy for a Peck's Skipper at the end of her life. And so, it filled me with joy when this little one, very much alive, hung around for a handful of seconds.
Whether or not she intended it, it felt like a gift. She wasn't really trying to tell me anything, but her presence did tell me that so far, I've succeeded in making my tiny backyard what I was hoping for it to be: A place where life can thrive.
Elena Corriero
You may also be interested in:
Elena Corriero
Elena Corriero
