a second miracle

•

And, can a miracle happen a second time? It can if you are watching carefully and you are living in the moment. 

Yes, a second miracle in the early morning hours...or in this case, in the early morning seconds. At 7:26 a.m. this morning, a second monarch butterfly emerged from his chrysalis to begin his ephemeral life as a winged, reproductive adult butterfly. But his time is short, days to weeks.

This is from one of the monarch butterfly larvae I had on display as part of my Show & Tell at Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge two weeks ago. 

The caterpillar was given to me by Clare Dattilo and I fed it about equal parts common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). It seemed to have no preference. 

Thank you, Clare. 

10:07 a.m. 

Yes, he is starting to move around, trying out his wings.

He was released at Cherokee Farms off Alcoa Highway this afternoon. 

Godspeed. 

•