A Visitation

Our caterpillars have skipped town. They are nowhere to be found, even though Ali walks around the garden softly calling, "Here Linus. . .Where are you Simon?" all while looking in the shrubs for their chrysalises. (Of course she named them! I can't believe you had to ask!)

We already knew that just before they began their transformation from caterpillar to butterfly that they might disappear but we were still disappointed on Monday night to come home and find them gone. We looked far and wide, even in the neighbor's shrubbery, but to no avail.

Then yesterday, Ali went to Cedar Point with her family for the day. Mid-afternoon I got this picture sent to my cellphone, followed by a very excited phone call.

"It's Simon! It's Simon!! He landed on my finger while we were standing in line and he stayed there for two or three minutes, tasting my finger!"

I'm a skeptic by nature but this is kind of weird. It's a black swallowtail butterfly. It hung out long enough to have it's picture taken and it chose Ali, of all the people in the park, to hang with. Of course I know it's not the caterpillar from our garden, but who's to say it's not something just a little more special than a simple random encounter?

Certainly not me.