Making the Best of Important Anniversaries

I had the best day. I was feeling out of sorts the past few days. I really didn't make the connection but June 8 was the fourth anniversary of my husband's death. It also would have been my parents 79th wedding anniversary. I have come to grips with all of it, as much as I can. Wallowing in it doesn't help. Moving forward is the only way, but it is always hard to have anniversaries. Don't get me wrong. I still have some very lonely moments, but I get over it. Having days like today certainly helps.

 

It all started by reading all 346 of the wonderful responses from the year to date memories on Facebook. My daughter had a post about her dad's death. I was tagged on the post so I was notified about the memory. That is the wonderful part of the memories feature, you are reminded every year. I was ready to read them now. After I read them, I texted my daughter and told her how much they all meant. Most of them were from her friends, but all had meaning. She asked me if I wanted to run some errands with her today and have some lunch. Of course, I said yes. She works a lot and having this opportunity was wonderful.

We donated a trunk full of items, we got some groceries and we ate lunch. Then we did a few more errands like getting my grandson's letter jacket updated and buying more sunflower seeds and cracked corn from the feed mill. 

Since my daughter loves butterflies as much as I do, she suggested we check out an area that is supposed to have Karner Blue Butterflies. I had been searching for a week for them, but I had no luck. I had been to this area two times already but found nothing. Karner butterflies are small blue butterflies that are endangered. They are small and are only the size of a nickel. The small green caterpillar of the Karner feeds exclusively on the leaves of the wild lupine plant. These plants only grow in certain sandy areas, so the available area to feed these butterflies is limited. Finding such an area was amazing in itself. 

When we pulled into the parking area. I didn't have much hope. I had been there two other times and had no luck at finding these small butterflies. I admit, I was a little nervous going by myself. I had heard stories of bears in that area and probably spent more time scanning the area than actually focusing in on the search. It was wonderful having a partner. We walked the trail which is only accessed by foot. Off the parking area was a bluebird house. The first time I visited, I watched a bluebird come and go. 

There were pretty wild flowers along the way including a lot of wild lupine. 

We walked along enjoying the whole experience but not seeing anything when suddenly one blue butterfly emerged ahead of us. I had not brought a camera except for my phone. I had noticed my phone was not charged in the car and plugged it in. I don't know what went wrong but it barely charged. I was upset but thankfully my daughter had her phone. As it turned out it was a blessing. I am usually so focused on taking pictures, I miss the whole experience. I was able to take in the trail, the beauty of the flowers and looking for the butterflies. From that point on I just looked for the butterflies and my daughter took the pictures. Once we saw one, we kept seeing them. It was an unreal experience and one I never thought I would have. My daughter was just as excited as I was. This first Karner Blue Butterfly is a female. 

The second one is a male Karner Blue Butterfly. This one isn't as clear. It was right next to a large piece of scat from some animal. It wasn't a bear but I didn't know what it was. All I know it looked large. 

We stayed for quite a long time. Every time we started to head back to the car, we would see another butterfly. We wanted to savor it as long as we possibly could. They are hard to photograph because they are so small and so fast. It was a dream come true.

As we left the area, there was a big patch of wild roses which we hadn't seen coming into the parking area.

The Karner Blue Butterfly's technical name is Lycaeides melissa samuelis. My granddaughter's name is Melissa and I have a grandson named Samuel. I think the whole experience today was meant to be.

It seems that blue is my healing color. I wrote this blog in 2015. 

https://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/07/blue-is-my-new-favorite-color.html