Omens and Portents

Bow and I have had a lot on our minds lately.

Bow relaxes while I work on the painting of the Liberian chimpanzees

We are never very long apart, though we may be doing different things. Bow knows the issues that I am grappling with. Or at least, he knows something of them, as seen from his own unique perspective. I am not implying that our thoughts on the subject are at all the same.

Sometimes a small butterfly can cast a big shadow. Sometimes when we are not sure what to do, we look for omens and portents in nature.  I went for a walk yesterday afternoon, and along the gravel road that is my internal driveway, Common Buckeye butterflies were strewn as far as the eye could see. There were so many of them! But every time I approached one, it would fly away into the grass, and all the others would regroup behind me, and so I could never seem to get a clear shot of any of them. Meanwhile, as I was chasing butterflies, a tiny snake came by on the road, overtook me and slithered along at great speed.

That little snake is in a big hurry! I thought, and I started to follow it till it disappeared out of sight at the main  road. Then I checked my mailbox. There was only an advertisement for life insurance. Does that mean anything? I thought.

Then I turned back and went along the road, and all the little Common Buckeye butterflies scattered every which way and would not let me take their picture. So I sat down on the road to rest and to collect my thoughts. And just then a single Common Buckeye butterfly came out from the grass onto the road, headed in my direction.

 It twirled around in a circle once, then kept getting closer and closer, opening and closing its wings, so that eventually I had to back away from it in order to keep it in the shot!

I got all the pictures I could possibly want, and all thanks to the butterfly who came to me.

Sometimes the very best thing you can do is sit still.

Do not chase the dream. Let the dream come to you.

But that is so hard to do, because it means losing control! It means the butterfly is calling all the shots. And who wants to grant so much power to a butterfly, no matter how beautiful?