The Sound of Butterflies

Cecropia moth

Thankfully November is over and with it my second successful year with NaNoWriMo. I spent much of my free time writing my 50,000 words which somehow assembled itself into a novel. A very rough one at that by as Anne Lamott writes in her book on writing and life, Bird by bird, you've got to write a sh@#%y first draft before you can get to the polished one. Where this nascent novel will go is anybody's guess at this point.

All writers know that in order to write better you must be an avid reader. Even though I might have spent hours jotting notes down on paper or sitting in front of the computer typing, I could not quite give up reading. As long as there is breath in me I will be reading. To that end I read Rachel King's The Sound of Butterflies during the month. I enjoyed the book for its description of a naturalist's life pursuing his passion, in this case in the form of lepidoptery, in the Amazon at the turn of the 20th Century. In the jungle this amateur naturalist learns about science, the brutality of nature within the jungle, and the dangerous behavior of man.

The photo above depicts a Cecropia moth which had been found one early morning last June outside the school building in which I work. One of my colleagues brought it into the classroom and our students were fascinated by it. As the day progressed, the moth must have warmed and once we took it out of the container in which we had it in, it slowly began to beat its wings and eventually took flight. It was drawn to the window which we opened in order to let it back outdoors. For a short time we were able to enjoy its beauty. Now on a cold December day, looking at this photo I am reminded of that warm spring day and look forward to the Winter Solstice knowing that the days will eventually begin to have longer periods of sunlight and eventually there will be a return of warm temperatures.