Skip to main content

Belly up to the bar~


On a previous jaunt with my camera, I stumbled across a woman sleeping on a blanket on the grounds of a mansion whose gardens I was touring. She woke to the sound of my camera's shutter. (I was not taking pictures of her.)

"Do you like butterflies?" she asked, apropos of nothing, as she rose to a sitting position. It turns out she had been meditating; I hadn't woken her at all, just interrupted her alpha waves.

I told her I did, and she told me where to find a butterfly zoo.

As she gave directions, I said, "Oh, yes, I know where you mean." I hadn't a clue, but I knew from experience that when I don't understand directions people give, they try again and again.

"You know where the ice cream stand is on Route 138? No? Well then do you know where the farm stand is across from the police station? No? How about the swamp hidden by the oak trees? Oh, you do? (No.) Well, go past the swamp about a half mile . . ."

A couple days later, I made the trip to the butterfly zoo-- courtesy of my GPS-- receiving a rather disappointing first impression: a dilapidated screened green house in an overgrown graveled lot.

Once inside the double security doors, after a lecture by the butterfly keeper on government regulations regarding butterflies, I was transported to the southern hemisphere, populated by insects, some of which I'd never heard of. Inside was a flowered habitat for over 400 butterflies of varying species fluttering about sipping nectar and landing on visitors.

Two South American Owl butterflies hung lethargically on the exit door.

"I'm not worried they'll escape," said the butterfly tour guide. "They're drunk."

It turns out that owl butterflies like to belly up to the bar. They spend most of their time sucking fermented fruit juice from a bowl of wretched looking bananas, and sleeping off the resultant intoxication.


"Oh, the poor things," I said.

"Hey, they only live two weeks. Do you blame them?"

Upon leaving the zoo I impulsively followed signs to the Greenvale winery. It sounded like a good place to take pictures. I was given a tour of the vineyards overlooking the ocean, snapped some pictures and bellied up to the bar for a taste of fermented fruit juice.

I bought two bottles of local wine and will sip a little on the patio, while watching the birds as the sun goes down, but not enough to leave me lethargically hanging from anything. I prefer to spend my life alert and aware.

As for the owl butterflies . . . oh, the poor things. They're missing life, and their life is too short as is.




More butterflies in my life~
Butterfly kisses~

Real life~


The zoo~
The Butterfly Zoo

Comments

Voyager said…
I can almost hear those butterflies singing Cheryl Crow:
"I love a good beer buzz in the morning: All I want to do is have some fun, 'till the sun goes down...." If one believes in reincarnation it wouldn't be a bad way to spend a two week life, as long as you get more aware ones too. Unfortunately I believe this is the only life we get. I'll stay away from the banana beer.
V.
raine said…
Hi! Just happened upon your blog. Love your butterfly pictures. I'll come back and visit again, if you don't mind.
Ruth L.~ said…
V~ Cheryl Crow! Perfect. The butterflies were beyond singing by the time I got to the zoo. Now I know why they need that giant fake eye. Their real tiny ones are seeing double, but their predators don't know that.

Rain~ If I don't mind? I'd love you to return. Any insomniac is a friend of mine. :>) If by chance you like butterflies, you might want to read these posts: "Real Life" (July 22) and "Butterfly Kisses" (Aug. 4). I should make links, because like you . . . "I'm just amusing myself" with this blog. It's fun . . . and time consuming.
Janice Thomson said…
So my question is this: if the owl butterfly spends its time being drunk/sleeping and only lives for 2 weeks how come the species isn't extinct?
In the pic of them on the bananas they look more like fish to me LOL
Good post Ruth...I enjoy reading info about butterflies.
Carter said…
Unless the ones in the zoo live wretched lives, or drink too much, they live for years. Our monarchs have just begun their annual immigration to Mexico. I watched hundreds of them head south over Mt. Agamenticus, just over the border in Maine, several years ago. But maybe they're teetotallers, get lots of exercise, etc.

C.
Ruth L.~ said…
Janice~ After the booze and before the snooze . . . that's when they take care of business.

C~ This zoo replaces stock every couple of weeks because the BFs die. From what I understand, not all speciesof monarchs make the migration trek. I'll have to look into that more. Must have been a moving sight to see the migration begin. Better than the swallows, etc.
Rick Bylina said…
Somedays it seems that all the butterflies in NC are in our backyard in our butterfly bushes and spinning cocoons in our carrots that have gone to seed...not to mention the fennel. Even in the evening, they fight with the ruby-throated hummingbirds for sugary nectar in the feeders. But drunk? I don't permit it ever since I had to pick up drunk hummingbirds from inside my open garage. Never did figure out what they drank.

-rick bylina
http://muse-needed.blogspot.com/
Barbara said…
I've always been fascinated by the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, but I know little about the other species of butterflies. Can you imagine trying to cram a whole lifetime into 2 weeks?
Ruth L.~ said…
Rick~ We have hummingbirds in MA, but they are more Puritanical than the drunken birds of NC. And they go after the glads, not the butterfly bush. Our carrots didn't get to go to seed this year; something got in and ate the tops.

Barbara~ It's even stranger to think that they actually live a year or so, but in different stages, most of which is curled up in a chrysalis. I always wondered if the butterfly had memories of its hungry caterpillar stage.

Popular posts from this blog

One Winter Day in February!

It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. Yay them! And yay me too! This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds. My “chores” for the week: ·       Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!) ·       Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away. Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite). ·       Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!) ·       Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is becoming a favorite...) Once done, that leaves plenty of time to...           To WHAT, exactly? What DO you do with the free time you’ve always dreamed of having...besides wasting it wondering what you’ll do with all that free time? On day 1, I a

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We&#

San Antonio and Boston~

I'm in Austin. Two days after Christmas we flew to Texas for another of Worcester State's basketball tournaments. Bruce's motto is, "I didn't miss any of David's games in high school-- and he played three sports-- why start now?" My motto is, "I didn't make all of his games in high school-- nor did I try. The least I can do is go to the ones that require traveling to a place I've never been." David spends his days with the team. When they are not playing or practicing, the coaches take the kids out to see the sights. We have plenty of free time to see the sights and to relax, which is what I'm after, basketball aside. Today we headed 80 miles south to San Antonio and sauntered along the River Walk-- the much corralled and exploited, but nicely so, San Antonio River-- in sun and sixty plus temps. We visited the Alamo, and absorbed a bit of Texas's interesting history and culture. Beautiful! Eye candy! Never ashamed to lug a camera