Come Saturday Morning

"How does one become a butterfly?" she asked. "You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a catapillar."

-Unknown

I made plans this last week to head down to Pacific Grove, to drive along the gorgeous 17 mile drive, relax, take some photos and see some public art, but by the time Thursday came around, I simply didn't have enough energy for the long drive. The weather fluctuated too much last week. Monday I was wearing a big comfy sweater, by yesterday, I was wearing summer clothes. My body didn't know what to think. Oh well, like I said in an entry earlier this week, sometimes the "Plan B" days can be just as wonderful adventure as well. My "Plan B" turned out to be a trip across the bay to the Conservatory of Flowers, to see the Butterfly Exhibit.

The Special Exhibits hall of the conservatory was filled with many different varieties of plants and butterflies, and will be through October. They rotate new types every four weeks or so. Right now they have Monarchs, Gulf Fritillary, Julia, White Peacock, Buckeye, Zebra Longwing, Little Wood Satyr. It was magical to walk into the room, and see them floating along, paying no attention to me and my wonder. In fact, I had something really fun happen. As I was walking into the exhibit, just as a young man and his little girl, I think she was about 2 or so, were coming out, and with them came a large Monarch. The butterfly had escaped!

Yikes! The Monarch fluttered around the little girls head, then floated over to me and sat down on my shoulder, from there it moved down to the back of my hand, where she stayed as I gently returned her back to her home. It was a strange feeling to have the butterfly sit on my hand, and it was an even stranger sensation when she licked the back of my hand. LOL I guess she thought my jasmine perfumed smelled good. :) That made me smile. She, Miss Monarch, was enjoying my company as much as I was enjoying hers. The two butterflies, in the above picture, sat together the entire time I was there, looking out of the conservatory window as if longing to be fluttering together in the fresh air. It made me a little sad, but it also made me smile to imagine them as the best of friends.

Admission into the conservatory is only $5.00, and that includes the special exhibit. I am going to be going back to photograph as many of the butterfly varieties as possible. I highly recommend it. Be sure to dress cool and comfy, it is very humid inside the conservatory, but there are a lot of benches to rest on. It is a lot of fun...don't miss it!

The Ethereal Musician was playing today...I have been listening to him playing his tunes for over five years now. He is my invisible friend, somewhere up here in the hills, who plays his music like a whisper to the wind. I still can't figure out where the music is coming from. That's ok, I'm glad that he is still one of my life's favorite mysteries. He is my invisable friend who comes by once in a while, to bring a little magic to my afternoon. The song he chose for today, was "Come Saturday Morning," by Dory Previn and Fred Carlin. So beautiful and so haunting. I will probably be humming it all weekend. Now I am sharing it with you. Enjoy! :)

Come Saturday Morning
By Dory Previn & Fred Carlin

Come Saturday morning
I'm goin' away with my friends
We'll Saturday-spend till the end of the day
And then we'll move on
But we will remember, long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning
I'm goin' away with my friend
We'll Saturday-laugh more then half of the day
Just I and my friend
Dressed up in our rings and our Saturday things
And then we'll move on
But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning

Just I an my friend
We'll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles
And then we'll move on
But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday Morning

-OndineMonet
"Best Friends"
(L) Gulf Fritillary (R) Buckeye
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
June 15, 2006
Afternoon