Leafs

Two leafs that flapped in the wind were tethered by the tip of a tree branch, in one morning. 

I saw a Cycad Blue on another tip in another morning. 

I wanted to think as normal as you do, as though nothing had happened, as in the eyes of other hikers.

But it was Sunday, a day to switch off my mind again; it was so silent that I heard a story about leafs.

They were butterflies when leafs withered.

Funnier Than Me

A skipper butterfly zooms past me, and makes a long solid flapping sound.

It circles, and finally perches on my leg, as if I am a flower plant.

It flies to my camera bag that have been placed on the ground, and is now its new target, a big black flower. 

I try to wave it away, but it returns immediately, and swings its abdomen up and down like a pendulum, that never tells time, but I time: one, two, three, four and far more. That attracts my curiosity.

What on earth is it doing on my bag?

Then I discover some "liquids" are released onto my bag. They seep through the fabrics, and disappear.

Is the butterfly laying eggs on my bag?

A butterfly can lay as many as two hundreds eggs at one time. Am I going to see this number of caterpillars on my bag after a week?

No caterpillars please!! They are nice in pictures, but not as pets.


But when two hundreds of butterflies bloom like flowers, how magnificent it will be! 


Link to your Sunday Best.

A Weak Triangle

I found these bees because of porterweed, and I always come back to the porterweed then because of the bees. We have formed a triangle, but bees sip honey and pollinate flowers, the later never get stung.

I need to maneuver very cautiously in the midst of humming sound on the other way, while those flowers continue to live and blossom, even without me.

My vital role is only a paparazzi. I confirm further when I click the next one from a far distance.

What if they tell the press that "they have been chased by a paparazzi, and he run lights, and he chase them and harass them the whole time. And it has certainly gotten worse?"

A Rare Visitor

I have been offered rentals in scottsdale, where natural wonders of the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Asteroid craters, and the most diverse ecosystems in the world can be found.

I was then preoccupied thinking about a rare visitor that asked for a rental too. I explored further, but was so funny to find myself looking at a fake pair of eyes of this Oleander Hawk moth.

So different from most moths or butterflies, it was so cool while being annoyed continuously. I offered this critter a free stay with conditions: eat no grapes and leaves, spoil no flowers, shit no on fruits, and the list would continue.

It said nothing, but silence is consent, and maintained in a comfortable perching position. It should have sensed my good name in the kingdom of critters, a good old man who has license but never kill.

But I might be a fool again. It had actually fallen into sleep right from the beginning. I talked only to deaf ears, yet felt so high, that I used to do.

Anyway, welcome to my garden.

The Nature Talks

Those in the forest talk through their colors and patterns, poses, or behaviours. They never bore me.

The talk can either be "dynamic" or in the opposite way, this very much depends on how my luck turn up to be.

The talks can be easily missed, and the talks can also be nothing, but they are irreplaceable by the refresh button in a computer screen.

They talk. They smile broadly. They greet me a good day every now and then that I love and eager to hear.

I listen, and my ears never get me in trouble.

What does a Butterfly mean?

What is a butterfly to you?

"Was I the man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly that is now dreaming that it is Zhuangzi?" Though tiny, a butterfly seemed to disturb Zhuangzi during the fourth century BC, but it has continued to twist our mind until now.

Two lovers emerged as butterflies from a grave in the Butterfly Lovers, a Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, and these butterflies further inspired the creation of The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto.

East and West then meet when people starts to talk about butterflies.

The "butterfly effect" is felt, although a butterfly is simply a few black lines and black dots in Picasso's drawing.

And a butterfly was no more a butterfly when Madame Butterfly was named.

What is in a bird's mind when it meets a butterfly? That certainly has nothing to do with philosophy or literature; that must be not so complicated.

Murmur Like Me

I was definitely not right to have told you that all bugs have left for the moon. Those who stayed in skyscrapers, I found out, seemed to not be concerned at all. The skyscrapers stood up so strong and brave to say No to mowers.

A spider, as tiny as a grain of rice, was seen showing off on a tightrope and without a balance pole. Is this the other reason that made it stay? And this type of so called show-off normally happens during young, and we get very hesitant with age.

On the contrary, do you think this tightrope walking is real thrilling? I do not think so, but many of us pay to scream when watching thriller films, and that is loud enough to deafen one another. A movie is still a movie. It is worse still if your boss happens to be one of the audiences, I am sorry, though sorry is the hardest word, he will hear and response to any complaints or requests no more.

By the way, if one of the legs slips, the spider is still safe with another seven. Please, don’t scream. Murmur like me.

As I Am

Not all are annoyed by loneliness, this butterfly does.

It moves higher low, higher high, lower low, lower high and continues in an uneasy pattern.

It is doubtful about me in the surroundings. It shows all its mimicked eyes.

Oh no, I am not the messenger of loneliness.

Not all are annoyed by loneliness.

A treehopper is more philosophical. It cogitates about an answer in the midst of swinging leafy branch.

It moves higher low, higher high, lower low, and lower high following the surrounding pattern.

I am a nobody.

Not all are annoyed by loneliness.

Am I seeing things as I am?

A Butterfly's Perception

My observation tells me that there are two types of nonsense: fatal and non-fatal nonsense. A butterfly observes that the fatal nonsense always comes from the sky.

No matter where I was, the butterfly remained cautious about the direction above it. I was glad to be honored as a nobody.

A nobody is very much better than a disaster which comes from the sky, that is the literal meaning of the Chinese proverb, " 祸从天降".

But this is just the perception of a simple-minded butterfly, and the proverb is taken too seriously.

I had to force it to look in every direction, at least, photographically.

All Flesh is Grass

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls."

************************************************************************************

This butterfly was supposed to be a very busy, happy and desirable one the next morning: To inhale the ardent aroma, to get in love and to murmur sweet nothings in the ears of the nubile flowers.

And to sow more colors of the rainbow in the wild.

It had a date the next morning.

************************************************************************************

"The steed bit his master;

How came this to pass?

He heard the good pastor

Cry, “All flesh is grass”."

One Couple of Butterfly

One morning. I saw one butterfly sinking itself in the lush green in the backyard. No no!! It was actually a mating couple that could easily escape from me, since no noise was heard.

I missed my macro lens and their up close facial expression at the same time.

They were disturbed on the other way, and had to continue flying reluctantly. But were again followed and peeped at different places.

The couple definitely hated me a lot, and decided to fly over the roof top finally.

I was annoyed then how good they were to perform a speedy synchronized dance in the air.

Romance of Mulberry

I never waited for my mulberry to turn into deep black, somehow it tasted like a strawberry, sourly sweet. Then I came back to the plant again with an umbrella and my camera, for the dripping raindrops this time. I would like to freeze them in the air.

This is a game between technology and gravity, with some disruptions from the rain.

I got a gifted reflection, I think so. A ladybird was colored onto the curve surface. That was good enough; she should have said that.

When I turned to her, she left me behind. It must be very romantic to chase after her, especially in the rain, and to share an umbrella with her. But it was not so practical to do so.

All these were played on a small mulberry plant, and in my little garden.

A Talking Moth

You can’t read my mind though you think you can. My eye won’t tell the truth. You can come back a hundred times, take a thousand micro shots, and write post after post, but these will only reflect your stodgy imaginations.

I pose to fool you, and you are too smart to tell my life but that is actually your own interpretation. You feel so proud to tell the whole world.

You may come to find my cousin next week; you can write again, only your friends, in turn, to be fooled.

Rainfield, have you gone insane by now?

Butterfly, And A Piece of Wood

It was another working Saturday. This butterfly was ready to rest when I reached home. It was a hard day's night for both of us.

I managed to click a few shots before it went sleeping like a dog, or a log?

I might be a piece of log who would like to get caught in the rain, this seemed to be very normal for the butterfly in the other way. Or it had actually been in the delta stage of sleep.

And while I was picturing and poeting about the water droplets and the butterfly using my camera, I was pulled back to reality.

"The caterpillars had already devoured our leaves completely, and you still enjoyed taking its photo."

I confirmed myself as a piece of wood after a hard day's work.

By the way, this is the chilly tree in daylight on which the butterfly perched yesterday night. It is hot.

Cycad Blue in love

Mating between butterflies usually lasts from 15 minutes to 3 hours, but they flew away once startled by me. I was so regretful for not able to witness more; it seemed like the male was injecting his yellowish spermatophore into mating tube of the female; anyway that split second with a sole snapshot was still wonderful.

I was attracted to the scene as many Cycad Blue Butterflies were flying in a spiraling manner upwards. They were actually attracted by the females. All these happened beautifully in my little garden.

My Cycad Palm was spoiled by their larvae at the same time. I need to trim away the withered leaves in order to rejuvenate and realize new lives.

There is always a tug of war between beauty and the beast.

The Dancing Butterflies- Yellow Glassy Tiger

I stumbled upon these dancing butterflies when I had a chat with a friend on the jungle track this morning. I was very much distracted since then. I had not seen theses many butterflies at one place at the same time in the wild. They were dancing above me, on a stage atop a tree.

When we talked about Intel inside, I told him butterflies fly very high inside my desktop wallpaper, the resolution is excellent and they are beautiful.

He asked about the best notebook in town, I replied with one whose screensaver can fly butterflies from one slide to another the best.

When we touched something regarding Foxconn China, I moved my eyes to a spot where the scene became green and bright.

And I could not help but to tell him I was seeing many butterflies above us, but he asked where I am working currently. I saw a butterfly flying from his back to the top of the tree when our conversation continued.

I told him I had to make a move now, but immediately armed myself with my DSLR after he had disappeared behind a turn.

Mesmerize

I have an incredible discovery: I own a magical umbrella!

Everyone knows that both grasshoppers and butterflies are hyper active critters. They are quick to move away whenever we get nearer to them.

I brought along my umbrella during my hiking these two weeks. In order to free my hands for the camera, I had to put it down on the floor. A grasshopper and a butterfly were purposely kept underneath in two separate occasions.

Here come the magic. Both of them are somehow mesmerized. They stayed as quiet as a fast asleep baby under my powerful umbrella. I moved my umbrella, I moved myself, and I moved my camera, but they never moved themselves.

In order to confirm that my hypothesis was right, I shook the surrounding grasses, and I tried blowing air and the rain drops. Wow, they were certainly mesmerized.

"xyz747+-x¸§¨©ª«¬­®¯!@#$%*, do enjoy your day under my umbrella. You will be very safe over here.”

Peacock Pansy

It is named Peacock Pansy.

The eye-spots on a peacock's tail help to attract a mate while performaing a courtship dance, but those found on a butterfly mean to intimidate its predators by resembling the eyes of their enemies.

I do not have any enemies, so I never get frightened.

This Peacock Pansy is another magicain that can change from orange-yellow (upperside) to ochraceous brown (underside) in a flash. Furthermore, it is fun to know that the eye-spots on its underside will disappear during the dry season thus to camouflage themselves in the brown brush.

Those eyes alternate during each fluttering. What happen if the mask of Zoro shows up in between?

Will the predatory birds be caught by this greatest surprise? Or only Batman is better known to them?