Our Fourth of July celebration took an unexpected turn yesterday. Mom came over for grilled steaks (her treat), and then we drove to Ames for a stroll through the Reimen Gardens at ISU.
The guide at the butterfly house, a recent addition to the gardens, said we were in luck. The butterflies were extremely active. She wasn’t exaggerating. Butterflies fluttered through the air, clung to the mesh wire next to the glass walls, ate from the feeders and rested on plants. One even hitchhiked on Hiram’s back for a while. You’da thought we were watching fireworks, the way we oohed and ahhed and rated the butterflies as they burst into view. I whipped out my camera and took picture after picture.
I would have been perfectly happy shooting photos all afternoon, but our Independence Day celebration included the Get Smart movie, so we had to skedaddle. The movie made me laugh so hard my sides ached, and the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream afterwards hit the spot. But the festivities wore us out. We couldn’t stay awake for the fireworks, though they were so loud this year they woke me up. For a few minutes I wondered if Boone was under attack, but eventually things quieted down and I fell asleep.
This morning, the indigo bunting eluded me again. So I’m offering you the next best thing – a red, white and black butterfly. It’s the most patriotic one we saw yesterday.
Oooh, aaah! I give it an eight point five.
