This is a glorious Swallowtail Butterfly feasting on bougainvillea in Patara Turkey where we went on holiday.  I sat for ages trying to capture this beauty in motion.  It will live for about a month.

I am a proud grandmother of three.  One is two and a half and his understanding amazes me.  He seems to be a child who needs to have things explained to him.  An intent listener he internalises what is being said to him. 

A butterfly incident occurred three days ago. 

I take my grandson to the small children’s zoo often.  It is walking distance from my house through some spectacular open spaces.  Living in West London I am always grateful for the green spaces many have fought to keep.  There is a children’s playground in the zoo and a small trampoline set into the ground.  I bounce across first then he follows.  Without warning I felt and saw a movement to my left.  I looked down at my leg and a huge butterfly was resting on it.  Its wingspan was the size of my hand.  Exiting the butterfly house and it must have hopped a ride on my back.  We hailed a keeper and within moments he captured the butterfly and safely returned it.   My grandson face was full of concern as he understood how to open and shut the doors of the heated butterfly house to keep them safe. If they were outside with us, they would die.   His explanation of the incident to the family was long and somewhat convoluted ending with a loud ‘Crash wallop’.  However, the enormity of the moment had struck home.

He is growing up with an understanding and care for the natural world.  Isn’t that something we all need to be reminded of again and again?  God’s creation of the world and everything in it, including us human beings, is a wonder to behold.   Let us cherish each other and love our world every way we can however small.