Skip to main content

Transformation, Or "Can You Still Hear the Lambs Screaming, Clarice"?



The current Mrs. Blythe bought one of those milkweed plants and we've become quite the place for whatever the heck is the life cycle of the caterpillar/butterfly.  It is a transformation that we have witnessed and are still.  As I write this on the same plant above there are no fewer than  7 more caterpillars getting hooked onto a portion of the plant.  






Once attached they coat themselves with a kind of pod.  





Here are two fellas preparing for transformation.




Once they have spread whatever it is over themselves they begin the transformation into butterflies.  In fact, on this one who attached itself to our Adirondack chair out front, you can actually see the faintest orange of a wing.  Soon it will break out of the pod and become a beautiful Monarch.





This guy made it, but another who hatched soon after did not.   In fact the fellow in the above picture which is in the stage of enveloping itself in its pod did not make it either.  It must have run out of goop, because he died halfway through.  Nature is tough but with the seven we have in process I'm sure we will be the proud parents of some young Monarchs in the next few days.

The pod stage is called a chrysalis and isn't that part of the plot detail of Silence of the Lambs?  Creepy movie and damn it, this is kind of a natural creepiness, too isn't it?  I don't know of any other living thing that turns into an entirely different creature (insert obvious and gratuitous spouse joke).  Nature, what a sombitch that is, huh? 

 I'll keep an eye out on my babies out front and if I see something exciting I'll let you in on it.  

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 4, 2018 at 1:56 PM

    When Steve was 4 or 5 he found a monarch butterfly and was going to pick it up but I told him if he left it alone it would stay around him and be hid friend. Fast forward 3 or 4 months and would you believe that butterfly followed him all the way to Denver! He was a believer after that.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida.  There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife.  In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride.  He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much.   He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A.   But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here.  If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying.  He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed.  No...
1 comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more