VENUS: The Plant Planet

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

    Common Swallowtail Butterfly in our garden. Its yellow is saturated compared to the ones I have spotted before. But it's definitely the same specie: Papilio Machaon (Linnaeus)

  Superstitions say this is a 'death buttefly'- reminding someone you know died. It was true to me once in the past. I don't mean to be dependent on such. There was a time, when mentioning 'death' was a taboo. Much less having something to remind us who died and will die. Eventually we all will. It's just a matter of time when and whenever we are ready. There may be at a time when we are afraid, it's because we are scared of the unknown. But knowing we believe in God, let us put our trust and hope in Him, not on superstitions. This one is photographed by my sister. Most of these swallowtail butterflies land on walls - not on living things like flowers and plants. No wonder why it must have been called 'death-butterfly' since it is most likely spotted on inanimate objects.

  I had been eyeing this ‘juvenile’ butterfly for a while now. I can’t seem to get the right angle to photograph this thing because it is so, so wild and crazy. I get mad sometimes at it, cursing little, asking why it couldn’t be so still for a minute or a few seconds. I get grumpy, sometimes, sour-grape. ‘It must have been young still’, I thought, ‘ Some times in a week or so, it will die. Maybe at its peak of lifespan I can have a better angle for a picture’. But, weak-ling moments never came. It’s as if they are made this way. I called it juvenile – for some reason – it means green and young. Juvenile in a sense the specie is hard to tame.

            Why is such butterflies hard to catch? Some say, butterfly is like 'love' (romantic love) the more you chase it, the more it flies away. Unless you wait patiently, it'll just come to you when you least expect it. The butterflies that come here in our home are mere visitors. You have no idea who and when it comes, how and what they look like. Amidst my own selfishness to 'blog' these creatures, I sometimes feel like I am, indeed, 'chasing butterflies' (metaphorically speaking ^^) I can't seem to settle in and patiently wait. My mind wanders along the pressure of the world's lifestyle instead of just sit in and appreciate these things go by; living the moment. Here, this bluish butterfly came one Sunday noon, right after we came from the church. At a distance so as not to disturb it, I took this unlikely photo, I didn't know it would turn up the way 'love' would speak to me. It's heart-shaped. Blue butterflies are some of th...