Butterflies Everywhere

I’ve become very aware of butterflies lately. It seems like everywhere I go, there they are.

On our son Devin’s first birthday party, just last week, one circled him in a big sweep as he was chasing a big ball across a field, a look of elation on his face.

Just today, one settled down on a rock to sun herself near the river’s edge as I sat quietly watching nearby.

Then there was the day I hung in the hammock swing on our porch, Devin in my arms as together we watched a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail drink nectar from the flowers hanging above. He learned what a butterfly was that day, as we watched her swoop from one bloom to the next until she had her fill.

Each time I see a butterfly, I feel like it’s a sign from heaven, a blessing, a message that we’re being watched, cared for and very much loved.

I remember a dear friend’s child squatting on her haunches, just a few short months ago, as she watched a caterpillar cross the road. What a miraculous leap it is to go from that slithering, crawling creature to one that flies!

Perhaps one of the reasons I’ve been enjoying these recent visitors so much is they remind me that in an instant, we can change form and take flight to wherever our souls want us to go. And, that sometimes it takes a period of silence, incubation, and letting change cocoon us before flight happens.