Did you have a hectic holiday? Well, let’s instill a little peace into your day shall we?
I was wordy last week. It seems I had a lot to say – whew! Before I transition to Autumn, Winter and holiday posts, here are some images to remind you that it is a mere 203 days until Summer 2022 – sigh!
So … how did this walk, which happened on a hot August morning, keep getting pushed aside? Time flies, it seems. The frost is on the pumpkin and snow has graced our landscape whether we want it or not, so let’s think warm thoughts.
I took these photos while bopping around the Botanical Gardens amongst the lovely blooms and butterflies. Okay, lots of blooms, but just one butterfly, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Unbelievably, with the exception of a few Plain Jane Cabbage Whites, I saw no butterflies in 2021. Chock it up to the wacky weather I guess.
“Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
What a lot of pretty flowers to remember summer by. Here we are enjoying the colours unfolding along with the warmer weather.
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Yes, it is a beautiful place Anne – you would like it as you like flowers. I do wish we were heading toward Spring and not Winter. It is snowing heavily right now – looks like a snowglobe out there!
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These gardens are so nice, I love those little purple flowers. Butterfly’s always brighten a day. 🙂
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Yes, I enjoy going there Sandra and they have renovated it some the beginning of November. They were having a Christmas tree lighting tonight at 7:00 p.m. It would be pretty to see as it is snowing heavily right now – the most-recent newscast says perhaps 4 inches of snow. They keep changing the snowfall amount. I miss seeing butterflies this Summer – I’d blame it on the heat, but I’m thinking it’s more all the rain.
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Summer does have its perks, like pretty flowers and butterflies. 🌼🌻🌹🌺🌷 🦋 They help us forget the oppressive heat and humidity. Enjoyed your stroll down memory lane.
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Yes it does and no worries about slippery roads and sidewalks which tends to thwart my walking regimen. Of course I know I complained about the oppressive heat and humidity but I would trade it for Winter in a heartbeat!
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Love the happy colors of summer blooms. What the heck no butterflies?
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Me too Kim – you’re luckily to have them hang around a little longer than here in SE Michigan. I am bummed about no butterflies though. I cannot believe this Swallowtail was the only I saw – I remember your video in your gardens and I bet it is brimming with butterflies and bees.
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I wonder if it was because of heavy pesticides?
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You know that is an idea Kim. I went last year to the Alpaca farm – I had been there once and did a post on it, then sent the post to the owners, a husband and wife who retired from their jobs and bought the farm. They raise their own alpacas and sell the wool and they also board alpacas. Anyway, they invited me to come and see them being sheared – this takes place in March. So he said contact us and we’ll tell you the date – well it was just as COVID was rearing its ugly head. He said he had not done the shearing and was keeping the alpacas away from all humans as their fur might be a hotbed for COVID germs, but would I like to see him take the honey from the hives after all Winter. I got there, he had a paltry bit of honey and all the bees were dead. He was upset and said that all the farmers were using pesticides and it was the second Winter he’d lost his bees and that was it – no more honey business. That does make sense. [P.S. – I just sent you something fun to your Gmail address.]
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Nobody can bring peace to you, but butterflies are a close second. Cheerful post, lovely colors.
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Thanks Ally – the cheery colors of Summer will fade to a distant memory now that wintry weather has set in. We are having round #2 of snow and I hope the freezing drizzle doesn’t happen like it did Saturday night.
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Hi Linda,
Hope you had a nice holiday. Odd you had a lack of butterflies. We seemed to do well with them this year. That swallowtail sure enjoyed those chive blossoms! Thanks for the cheery colors this morning.
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Hi Eilene – it was quiet but nice – thank you. Perhaps our butterflies stayed in your neck of the woods this year. I missed their presence. Now I know what the purple flowers are – they have quite a few of them at the Botanical Gardens and in the past have been a butterfly magnet.
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Your observation may of spotted more than you realize Linda? Butterflies are like the preverbal Canary in the coal mine, a lack of them means the environment isn’t healthy.
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Yes, I fear you are correct Wayne. I found it very strange and I was at this venue several times and the volunteer gardens as well. That was where I got the nice Monarch shots last year – nothing. I wondered if it was all the rainy and humid days and they stayed tucked away, sheltered from it?
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We will never know? These things are bigger in scope than anybody understands or realizes!
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Hopefully butterflies will appear again next year … I found it odd that everywhere I go where there are butterflies, there was only one.
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I’m sure they will Linda,nature bounces back very well! This link talks about why there are fewer Butterflies.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202103/210304145405.htm
This came on the news just as I was about to send this!
https://globalnews.ca/video/8415361/this-is-bc-nelson-man-sets-new-record-following-the-path-of-the-monarch-butterfly-migration
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Hi Wayne – thank you for the two links. For some reason the first one didn’t work. I tried it in two different browsers and added an “l” at the end, but no go. I’d interested to know the reason though. The second video was very interesting. He was lucky he was able to do that whole trip without incident! Funny because we were discussing the paragliders a while back – definitely a scary trip. I read a post on Facebook this Summer about a woman who had completed 2,500 miles of walking and she had reached “Monarch status” … I Googled around and learned that this “status” was something you achieved it you wore a Fitbit device. So I decided I should combine my miles from last year and see how long it took me to get to 2,500 miles. But I never found the Monarch butterflies this year – I kept returning to the Volunteer Garden where I saw so many of them to no avail. I could have used an old pic but have passed the mark now. I am going to do it next year for sure!
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Monarch status! Very interesting! I bet they have a online site dedicated to all those reaching that level!
Try this
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210304145405.htm
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That was interesting Wayne – thanks for resending the link to me. Speaking of global warming, the meteorological Winter begins today. They gave a three-month outlook … warmer than usual, more snow than usual. First it was raining more than usual – I give up … maybe I should do my monarch status post after all in case I don’t get there next year.
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Seems so long ago since the beautiful flowers were blooming!
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I know and we have another 2-3 maybe 4 inches of snow tonight. We had our first snow Saturday and it came with freezing drizzle … I’m ready for Spring or Summer now!
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We just had a coating that didn’t stick on grass. It was gone by 10 a.m. Maybe flurries today. I’m not too excited to get snow early as it lingers well into March here.
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Last night’s snowfall is reduced to lawns only thankfully – we get to 50 degrees but we’re getting more snow on Sunday.
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I am a summer-lover, so I especially appreciate this post. I will be counting down those 203 days! Thanks for the beautiful reminders.
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Me too Laurie – I see the nice walking weather slipping away with tonight’s second bout of snow – hopefully, it doesn’t bring freezing drizzle along with it like Saturday night. The sooner the better for warm weather!
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We are headed home tomorrow, Linda. I am not looking forward to running in winter-like weather. I hope both of us can get our miles in.
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Safe travels to you Laurie – we get a little more snow on Sunday; it’s all about the miles now.
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Thanks, Linda, I needed that!
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Glad to provide a moment of tranquility Pam.
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♥️
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Pam – I’ve been behind in Reader for a while now, but it dawned on me I’ve not seen any posts by you. I know I was getting them by e-mail and through Reader and went to your site – there have been several posts that I’ve not seen. I tried to subscribe and it said my e-mail address was not valid. I’ll try again – you are not the first person I’ve missed and found I am no longer following for some reason or another. I do have over 200 SPAM messages now – those I can no without! P.S. – Just returned and could follow your blog, an option that wasn’t available 10 minutes ago. WordPress gremlins are afoot!
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I’ve had that happen to me, too. I’m not sure what switches WordPress flips but stuff goes Kaflooey with literally no input from me, Linda. 😂
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Go figure, but eventually I go to the person’s blog site while hoping they are okay and not just on a blogging break.
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You can always tell that certain butterflies are “elderly.” They have very frayed edges to their wings, but they are still very beautiful. It’s from the beating wings repeatedly pounding on the flowers and nearby foliage (over a long span of time). As humans in America, we were brainwashed to look at wrinkles negatively, but i think that elderly humans (with wrinkles) are quite beautiful. We need to go beyond the conditioning! 😉
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Yes, I have seen some very tattered wings on butterflies over the years … it makes you wonder how they are able to fly. I even Googled the header image to ensure the name of the butterfly because it didn’t have the usual blue markings. It is wrong how we frown on elderly human’s wrinkles – they are all earned and we will be there someday, unfortunately all too soon.
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Yes, we’ll all get wrinkled by and by!
I’ve seen plenty of tattered wings on butterflies too. Some even have big chunks missing; it makes flying more difficult for them for sure.
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Yes, I saw one last year with severe damage to its wings and I don’t know how it went airborne.
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I love the quote at the end, it was a beautiful way to close such a lovely post!
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Thank you Shelley – it is always peaceful at the Botanical Gardens – I’ve been there in all seasons – the blooms and butterflies season is the best. Glad you liked the quote – it seemed perfect for this post.
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It’s a great place to connect to nature, no wonder you enjoy it so much. I always enjoy the photos you share. Thank you for the perfect timing too!
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It is beautiful, especially at peak bloom time Shelley. I went there yesterday as they decorated for Christmas … I follow them on Facebook so I know what’s going on there. So I went yesterday to get some pics for an upcoming post, even though I said to myself “absolutely no more photos in 2021!” That was after spending hours sorting through photos taken from Halloween on. That listed a long time – sorting through photos and swearing off taking more photos is probably akin to childbirth and someone saying “no more” then having another baby. I thought it would be nice to have somthing peaceful to start off the post-holiday … the quiet and peace was short-lived here in Michigan. Our school shooting the next day … just like the holiday parade in your state marred by the guy mowing down people in his SUV. The world is sad and scary these days. Sigh.
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That’s cool they decorate for holidays too.
You’re so funny, I know exactly how you feel. I have way too many photo options and don’t really need to take more, but I do. The baby comparison…that’s funny.
Yes, the shooting and the holiday parade instances have been in the spotlight. Both are very sad situations. The GM trial shows more how scary the world is and has been for decades. Oddly though, it’s not getting the coverage it needs.
Sigh is right.
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Yes, all these incidents sure have marred the festive atmosphere for sure. I believe the GM trial will take another five weeks at least – it’s barely been on the news but that’s because from Tuesday on, the Oxford school shooting has taken up 90% of our local news.
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Indeed. Oh, yeah, GM’s trial will go well into the new year. There’s a lot of dirt to uncover there. Yep, distractions, distractions, distractions. Not that what happened there was good, it’s just if the news can be there live, they’ll pounce on that versus trying to get the information on a closed court room.
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The news today was all about Scott Peterson now getting life in prison versus a death sentence because of a jury technicality. I heard the Laci’s family giving witness impact statements.
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It’s quite interesting to see the twists and turns in the public cases. I’m guessing many of them make you shake your head?!
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Yes for sure – I’ve followed this case for years. Today the Michigan guy who killed his wife by poisoning her breakfast cereal by lacing it with heroin was sentenced to life in prison. He killed her in 2014 but it was ruled the wife was drug user; then shortly thereafter he was with a new girlfriend. His former in-laws said their daughter wouldn’t use drugs but he still wasn’t charged. Her parents were cleaning out a freezer and found breast milk she had frozen and kept in their freezer. No drugs in it. He was retried/guilty.
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It is quite pathetic how long things take in our judicial system. I saw that about that guy too. Justice finally prevailed. I hope we see more of that in the other big cases floating around the news cycles.
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Agreed!!
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Beautiful colors on my screen as I look out my windows to a gray, dry, December morning in Colorado, with not a bloom in sight. Thanks, Linda!
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Glad you enjoyed these colors from Summer Dave. I know you don’t have blooms, but I heard a story on the radio that Denver has never gone this long without snow this far into Fall. Hope it is the same for you as well.
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Colorado needs the moisture, Linda, so we’ve reached a point where residents actually want the white stuff (not to mention our ski resorts). We seem to be in perpetual drought status across the state these days. La Nina pushes most of the moisture further to the north this year but we’re still hoping for a wet spring.
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Well I hope you get that snow Dave – I didn’t think about the ski resorts. The second La Nina Winter in a row is not good for you and we will benefit by having the warmer temps, but lots of precip in various forms, mostly snow they say.
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Oh such an uplifting post with all the nature beauty – and the title said it all to offer the lift!
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Glad you liked it Yvette – it is always so peaceful there and I visited Saturday to see their Christmas decor and they leave that sign there all year around. Nature gives us a lift – our world is sad these days … we need all the help we can get.
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😊🤍🤍🤍
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