Fragments of Flight
By
A Blue Butterfly
On a Blue Day.

Respite from the soothing sunshine's soft kisses,
The feather-light billowing caresses of summer's balmy breeze.
Sojourn, change of scene
From vast brightness and limitless fresh spaces to a dreary desk in a colorless corner cubicle.
Prison of modern life,
The dull 'greige', monotone beige semi-private cell known as my Work Station welcomes me.
Careless of the dreams of this reluctant Lepidoptera,
Taut invisible tethers have relentlessly reeled me back to this barren landscape.
The Ivy lay dying while I’ve been away
The thriving planter I lovingly left tended,
Apparently suffered my substitution, in sympathy.
Shriveled brown tendrils spill tiredly over hand-painted habitat while still others cling tenuously to life,
Consoling reminder my vacation from day-to-day drudgery ends just in time!
Looks like I must work a little bit longer to sustain both our lives.
Befitting the occasion, blue Blue Butterfly is wearing black -
I don't want to do this anymore.
Outside, office windows reflecting more of the same.
Overgrown concrete jungle.
The darkened sky and pouring rain comfort me, mirror my mood.
I'll be grateful, then, knowing I'm not missing much today.
Sobering caffeine for me.
Aromatic coffee grounds with cool water and overhead desk-lamp
For my languishing indoor greenery.
I startup my desktop Dell.
login: USERID, password: "IMALIVE" -
Yes, I am. That's me!
My screen saver. Me looking-at-me from the magnificent vista of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.
Warming up. Check my E-Mail.
I see nothing much has changed.
Same old, same old, with welcome diversions.
I am in this uncongenial place of necessity, but I am in spirit free,
Here only physically. Surrounding framework panels
Sport favored photos and mementos
For my inspiration, appreciation, motivation:
Close-ups of precious pets and persons,
Of tea roses from the garden, twining rose and clematis climbers,
Burgeoning perennials, lounging on my dream-home deck
in sultry summer siesta -
Pictures from unforgettable forays to out-of-time places,
Landmarks on my continuing Continental odyssey:
Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga Civil War sites - alive with History.
The simple beauty and stark simplicity of battle-scarred Salem Church, Virginia, and New Echota,
Georgia, Lost Nation of the Eastern Cherokee,
Fragments of flight
Feelings, thoughts, experiences,
Of which I wrote and will more yet write,
When I'm free
Tonight.


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WHEN JUST ANY PLACE WON'T DO:

Habitat Specificity of the Karner Blue Butterfly
The Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) is one of the few federally and globally endangered species to occur in Wisconsin. Clouds of these “beautiful blue snowflakes” once flew in many oak savannas and pine barrens from Minnesota to New Hampshire and downtown Brooklyn. These vanishing communities occurred on sandy soils in a narrow belt near the southernmost advance of the last wave of glaciers, on sandy outwash plains and the bottoms and shorelines of glacial lakes.
Today, the Karner Blue has disappeared from most of its former range. Many of its savanna habitats have been destroyed, or become overgrown because fires and other natural disturbances that kept them open have been suppressed. Wisconsin now supports the world’s largest remaining populations of the Karner Blue. Research by Cathy Bleser (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and her colleagues has shown that our populations are concentrated in the central sand plains, the eastern edge of the unglaciated Driftless Area, and the Superior outwash plain in the northwest portion of the state (see map). The largest and most numerous populations are found in and near Fort McCoy.

-Source-Aldo Leopold Chapter Society for Conservation Biology

Recommended Resources:

Save the Pine Bush


Chipper Woods Bird Observatory




~ Helga Marion Ross ~

Copyright 2000