Adventures with a late bloomer besides myself

In late October, I discovered several Monarch caterpillars on milkweed. Seeing how small they were, I was sure that by the time they hatched, it would be too cold in this Vermont region for them to have the energy to fly on their migration. I brought three inside, put them in a glass aquarium with fresh greens to eat each day, and watched them grow. I felt that I identified with them as late bloomers.... when I was in my twenties, I felt as if I were still a young teen. I am in my late fifties and not much has changed.   Sadly, I witnessed the devastating effects of parasites and I was soon down to two 'pillars.

I was able to witness the transformation on all levels, from the J shaped hanging 'pillar to the lovely green chrysalis, to the darkening to orange, then hatching. The first to come out was during a downright hot spell in November so I put her out on a still-blooming calendula flower. When I went to check on her in the morning, she had died, still clinging to the blossom. The temperatures had gone down too low in the night.

Vowing that my remaining butterfly would not suffer any of the fates of the other two, I built a 6-foot tall cage using a glass-topped coffee table tipped on its side, and four poles (tension shower curtain rods) enveloped in open-weave non-slip rug pad material. I was thrilled that I had this all in my home and did not need to spend money. I also had SnuggleSafe disks from past cat rescues. They get  put in the microwave then tucked into a fleece holder and release heat over a period of eight hours.

When the room that this structure is in became too cold (it is an addition to my trailer, with no heat) for the SnuggleSafe to be effective, I set up my stepladder with a small space heater on the correct rung to reach the  level of the cage. I can only imagine what this is doing to my electric bill, but 'ya gotta do what ya gotta do.'

Mr. Pretty (he is identified as a male since he has the tell-tale black spots on his hind wings) settled in nicely. He spent time on the floor, on the heating disk,  on a dried stalk of tall flowers, and high up on the rug pad cover tent.

It was tricky to provide him with flying exercise since I have three cats who would come running each time they heard the flutter of wings in the cage. I'd take him out, bring him to the hallway, the only place where he could not become trapped if he flew behind a piece of furniture, and kept a close eye on him as he flew, as butterflies do, in frantic seemingly random fits and starts. He always went for the windows in the end.  It made me feel so sad that I could not communicate to him that I was not keeping him trapped indoors to be mean, but to save his life.  I am a decent house-keeper but even my weekly sweeping and vacuuming efforts could not keep up with the dust. So once back in my hand after daily exercise, Mr. Pretty would have to tolerate having bits of dust removed from his legs. Not an easy feat when those legs and feet have tiny barbs on them to help him stay attached to whatever he is on.

I performed several delicate maneuvers with tweezers and once, an xacto knife.  After the knife episode, I decided to never again use the cheesecloth method that I tried that one time, covering a shallow jar lid of his liquid diet.  I instantly went back to his traditional acorn tops or radish seed pods. He needed something to step on as he drank. The jar lid was just too slippery for him to stand on.

When Christmas drew near and I cut evergreen branches and stuck them in a bucket of water, I came to the point where I had run out of both acorn tops and radish pods. So I cut some tiny tips off my 'tree' and these have proved to be the perfect thing for him to grasp as he eats. It is always such a thrill to watch that proboscis unfurl the moment his feet (where his tasting ability lives) make contact with the sugar water.  Or carrot juice. Or cherry juice. His favorite is carrot juice and I have enough in my freezer from my prolific back yard harvest. 

One day, after he had mysteriously gone on a self-induced 24-hour fast, I had him on my finger as I rearranged his newest lid of liquid. I had splashed some on my hand without realizing it, and was delighted that suddenly I was truly hand-feeding my butterfly. I wish I had been able to feel that delicate 'tongue' on my skin.  I felt like some kind of a giant monster, holding this teeny tiny pet.  He weighs less than half a gram.  I tried that again numerous times but he never 'took the bait.'  Who knew butterflies could be fickle??

I try not to look ahead to the long winter months. He may not make it until spring, when I hope to throw a party upon releasing him. I am just taking it one day at a time and enjoying this, my first ever Danaus plexippus.

 

-GG

 

Too much time on devices!

I am easing my way off of devices. It feels absolutely wonderful. The urge to check all the sites has faded dramatically, and the space I now have in my life is truly energizing, stimulating and relaxing!

I check my email and a few sites first thing in the morning and then not again until 4:00 or so.

I do not check emails or news before I go to bed.

While I might not be up to the minute of the horrors of the day, do I really need to be? I stay informed -with some space around it all.

I also no longer walk around with my phone on me. I'm intentional about it. I have my phone when I have a need.

I can't say enough how freeing this is.

I found that even if I only spend two minutes checking my emails and the news here and there throughout the day or before bed, my mind then takes on the issues from the emails and news (etc) and that can last hours.

Looking for a new years resolution? I highly suggest this one. Take care of your mental health, and add hours to your day where your mind can be on other stimulating things. I suggest trying this even for an hour at a time. See what you think. I'm absolutely 100% loving this.

 

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2 a.m. discipline pays off

 

I was not too confident that I'd actually get up at 2 a.m. when the alarm went off. I was anticipating a lovely meteor shower which I had waited years to see, all other such events being blocked by full moons,  overcast conditions, or city living.

Indeed, my bed felt overly-snug when the alarm went off but a recent stint with successful physical therapy had served me well to develop some discipline and I pulled on my long johns and flannel-lined jeans.

Because of my physical therapy, I was delighted that my body could now safely lower itself to the ground.  I was immediately rewarded with a truly fine streak across the sky, right where I first looked.  I stayed out, my body growing colder and colder, for about 40 minutes.  Each time another one appeared, I felt I should stay for 'just one more.'  As I waited between meteors, I realized how quiet it was. I could hear the gurgling brook that ran through the meadow behind my trailer, a soothing wind through the pines, and two kinds of owl voices.  Absolutely nothing else. I tried to convince myself that being outside in the middle of the night, in winter temperatures was delightful and special and that I need not wait for the next meteor shower to come around in order to enjoy it.  Yeah, right.  It was miracle enough that I made it outside and found enough old towels to lie on.

I was even able to enjoy the spectacular show while my ocd brain proceeded to count every shooting star. At first I tried, as usual, to fight it or use my redirect tools, but did not want anything to spoil my fun, so I just let it happen this time. I got up to 20.

It took me a good two hours to get back to sleep after crawling into my now-cold sheets but I still had lovely visions and memories of what I had the privilege of viewing in the cold night sky.

-GG

 

Society needs to rethink labeling

I'm looking up symptoms of ADHD. The way they phrase the symptoms, no one in their right mind would say "Oh good! I have ADHD". But the fact is, having ADHD is not a bad thing. They could easily list the symptoms in a factual and neutral tone. No wonder people do not want to acknowledge a disability. Even the medical books lean (and fall) toward negativity. What a shame.

If we lived in a society where we all accepted and supported one's differences (and if we look we'll notice everyone looks, behaves, thinks or feels differently from others) then people would get the assistance they need sooner, they would understand themselves better, and probably heal sooner too.

At IC a few years ago a woman was resisting using a wheelchair. She could no longer walk distances, this was stopping her from socializing, shopping, and going to activities. But she was set against using a wheelchair thinking people who use wheelchairs are restricted. The term 'confined to a wheelchair' puts that idea into all our heads. We had a wheelchair party for her. We had wheelchair races, crowned her as wheelchair queen and more. She then began using her wheelchair feeling the freedom it brought her. She was thrilled. She could now go for walks. She could now go out and about. It was freeing. Of course!

If we have ADHD but we don't know it we might constantly feel we should do better, what's wrong with me, that sort of thing. But if we know we have ADHD then we can set up our lives appropriately to deal with our way.

Knowledge is freedom. If we understand and accept our issues we can then deal with them.

It will be nice when society supports ones differences. We're not there yet. At least at IC we are there! Good for us anyway!

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