It’s that time of the year again-My parents,grandparents and great-grandparents left the safety of these trees on the shores of Lake Erie- and undertook a tedious migratory journey of 2000 miles,flying 80 miles a day at a time….from the north,across the vast North America-all the way to the south…to escape the cold harshness of Canada to the comparatively warmer climates of Michoacan,Mexico …We are proud of our lengthy annual migrations,north to south before the first frost and then southward return journey in spring –which spans the life of 2-4 generations …No single individual makes the entire round trip-It’s our 2nd,3rd and 4th generations that come back here to Canada-That’s how I came back from the fields of Arkansas,where I was born, to the shores of Canada …And now, it’s my turn…and I’ll be leaving my home for the last time,never to come back !!
I’m a Monarch butterfly and proud to be the only one of our kind to make the dual north and south migration,like the birds ~ I know I’ll have to follow the position of the sun as a compass to reach those conifers of Mexico, as my seniors once did – My winter roost, with millions and millions of others of my family ~ We keep ourselves warm and safe by hanging from the branches of the trees all through the winter, in clusters…..millions and millions of us covering all the branches and the trunks of the trees like one big colorful Persian rug ~ Many of us might be attacked and eaten up by bright-colored Orioles,although we are poisonous and distasteful to many predators~ And many others who fall from the clusters to the ground and fails to come back up by nightfall, will just freeze from the night frost !!
But that is life- our kind have been doing this for many many years ~
And when the 1st signs of Spring arrives implying the end of wintering, we awaken from our crowded bundles, open up,flutter around joyously and make our way back …Well, not entirely..
The ladies will lay their eggs on our way back, in the fields and meadows of North America & the future generations will return home to these trees ~ ~
So, I’m taking my time to enjoy the ambiance of this place I’ve called home for the last several months,till that moment arrives ~ ~
Till, I make the greatest journey of my lifetime and accumulate an once-in-a-lifetime experience ~ * ~
