Flutterby Butterfly

Let me get a couple of administrative details out of the way first.

1) If you’d like to read my short story “End of the Line”, then you need to go buy a copy of Idea Gems Tough Lit VI.  It costs a dollar to download (and you can download it to your PC if you don’t have a Kindle). (And if you’re really interested, you can buy it in physical touchy-feely format for $8.50.) Yes! I’m SO excited to have a piece in a publication that people actually have to pay MONEY to read! Please, go check it out.

2) The following is my entry for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 word challenge, where the word of the week is Fragile.

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Butterflies get credit for grace thanks to their intricate, crystalline bodies. But whenever I try to photograph them, I  realize how jagged their flight patterns are. They skirt and dodge and return to the same plant in a genetically imprinted dance of predator avoidance.

 

They protect those fragile wings with unceasing motion, rarely stopping to enjoy more than a sip at any one flower. Watching them is exhausting. But I can’t look away. Because in those flicks and flashes, they hide brilliant colors and extraordinary patterns. If I turn my head, I risk overlooking the most stunning beauty in nature.

 

Yes, there is a dragonfly here


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About jesterqueen:
Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order.

Comments

Flutterby Butterfly — 11 Comments

  1. Gosh, Jessie. Those are some drool-worthy pictures. I cannot imagine how many you shot to get these, but it’s so worth it for me to gaze at them. Thank you.
    Hop over and visit andra watkins’s recent post A Hairy SituationMy Profile

    • It wasn’t as hard as I would have expected. I had to do it with at least some help from the minions. (Though Scott manages them a LOT when I’m going camera nuts, because Sam could probably plummet of a cliff and I would be like “sh – this guy’s about to move his wing”). I couldn’t believe the proboscis pictures showed. The curled one and the one actually drinking.

    • They are so compelling. The colors alone transfix me, but then when I get to see them drinking with that tiny straw for a mouth, I’m blown over again.

  2. Butterflies, dragonflies… hummingbirds. All a stunning mix of beauty and mind-boggling physics.
    Hop over and visit Tara R.’s recent post Glass spiderwebsMy Profile

    • Someday, I’ll learn how to photograph a hummie. Because they are even more astonishing than the butterflies.

  3. Even without the pictures there’s sweeping beauty in your words. well done, and super creative.
    Hop over and visit Lance’s recent post All My LifeMy Profile

    • Thanks Lance! I’m always delighted when my words resonate with another author I admire. You, Tara, Carrie, Andra, and Barbara all absolutely rock, and I’m honored to be writing with you.

  4. This is making me want to get some new lenses for my camera. Great camera, but I can’t get macro shots with the one lens I have.

    Thanks for sharing your adventures with us in pictures and words!
    Hop over and visit Velvet Verbosity’s recent post Vermont, a Manure Truck, and 100 WordsMy Profile