Camera poised and ready to shoot, I stand and wait as the Monarch paratroopers glide in, iridescently adorned in polka-dotted uniforms of orange and black. They’ve stormed my garden, scanning and probing it for flight fuel.
I zero in on one lone butterfly, fluttering overhead – her wings flapping hard against the late summer’s breeze, the full span of them glistening against midday’s high sun. She finally maneuvers low to navigate her perfect landing, descending onto the tip of the buttercup-shaped lantana where she sips her nectar, letting It nourish her before she takes flight again. In moments, recorded only by the click of my shutter, she drunkenly ascends and joins her airborne troop. I am saddened to know, in probably just a few short short weeks – she will die in combat – for she has always been on a race against time. Her brief lifespan was always destined to be fleeting, and so I feel special that she called upon me and that my garden was on her personal flight plan.
Tonia Allen Gould
©2014
The Monarch butterfly only lives three weeks. I always feel special when I cross paths with any butterfly because they are so beautiful and here for such a short time on Earth. Incidentally, the Monarch are now an endangered species and that makes this picture even more special.The photos turned out great because she let me get right up next to her and take them.
The Monarch Butterfly is endangered. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/monarch-butterfly
Otto von Habsburg: He was the Habsburg pretender to the Austrian throne. Read more here
Elizabeth II
Wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
Prince Charles, will he ever be monarch?
On June 1, 2001, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya of Nepal were hosting a formal dinner party for Nepal’s royal family. 29 year-old Prince Dipendra arrived drunk at the party and his father, the King, ordered him to be removed from the festivities. He was taken to his room in the Narayanhity Royal Palace by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.
An hour later, Prince Dipendra returned to the party with a 9mm sub-machine gun and an M16 assault rifle. He shot his father first, then began to systematically pick off his relatives — aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters — darting in and out of the room as he fired round after round. His mother, Queen Aishwarya, ran from the room to get help.
When the Queen returned, she and his brother, Prince Nirajan, confronted Prince Dipendra in the palace garden. Dipendra shot and killed them both. He strolled across a small bridge over a stream in the garden and shot himself.
According to the rules of succession, Dipendra was declared King of Nepal. He spent his entire reign — three days — in a coma. Gyanendra Shah, Dipendra’s uncle, was named King on June 4 when Dipendra died.
Incidentally, Gyanendra’s ended in 2008, when the monarchy was abolished and the interim Federal Republic of Nepal formed in its place. Gyanendra became a private citizen and was stripped of his royal status.
Kirsty McHugh, OUP UK
For the first time in over 30 years, the British general election last week resulted in a hung parliament. The news is full of the latest rounds of negotiations between the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats, and at the time of writing, we still don’t know who will form the next government.
But what does ‘hung parliament’ actually mean? I turned to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics to find out.
[Hung parliament is the] name for the situation when after an election no political party has an overall majority in the UK House of Commons. Without a written constitution the response to such a circumstance is governed by statements by courtiers and senior civil servants as to what the constitution requires the monarch to do. The most famous of these statements were by Sir Alan Lascelles, private secretary to George VI, in a letter to The Times in 1950, and by Lord Armstrong, secretary to the cabinet between 1979 and 1987, in a radio interview in 1991.
The incumbent prime minister may continue in office and offer a queen’s/king’s speech: that is, a speech delivered by the monarch but written by the government, outlining its programme. This is likely only if the prime minister’s party still has the largest number of seats, or a pact with another party can be engineered to ensure an overall majority. If the prime minister cannot command the largest party in the Commons and has no pact then the prime minister may ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament and call a further election. In the absence of precedent it remains unclear whether the monarch would be obliged to accede to this request. More likely, the prime minister would resign and advise the monarch upon a successor. Usually the monarch would heed that advice, although in the last resort the monarch is not bound to do so. The new prime minister would then form a government and if a working majority could again not be sustained, a dissolution of Parliament and calling of a second election would be sought and gained from the monarch.
There's something about migration that fascinates me. When I lived in Pacific Grove, California, the Monarch butterflies would arrive each October. I always wondered why they chose such a chilly, foggy place to live while trying to elude a harsh winter. They'd look like one long orange ribbon flying in the breeze when the sun was out, and when the cool fog settled in they'd huddle in long clustered rows for warmth and comfort from the wind.
In a way I've migrated back to my home ground, too. And instead of the balmy escape of a cold winter, I found myself flying back to roost in familiar surroundings ready to be embraced by autumn colors and the icy kiss of a long, cold season.
(Digital collage this week, no time for painting. Thanks for stopping by!)
We must be in the flight path of the monarch migrations to Mexico here in Austin because I have seen so many of them over the last few weeks! A couple weeks ago we hiked Commons Ford park which is west of the city and everywhere I looked I'd spot a monarch. They seemed especially fond of one particular type of flower which were quite plentiful in the park. I've seen a a good number of the other 'big butterflies' around too, swallowtails and such. Monarchs are a real childhood favorite of mine!
Every so often I discover that my husband has, unbeknownst to me, lent his hand to my work. Sometimes his little additions go unnoticed for days or weeks until I've come back to the drawing for reworking or reference. I always get a good laugh from these unexpected contributions:
And so I continue to labor under his corrupting influence...
Read the rest of this post
Avis Harley has a new book of poetry out this spring: The Monarch’s Progress; Poems with Wings (Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press). Once again, she approaches a nature topic through a variety of poetic forms, including haiku, alphabet poems, acrostics, sonnets, cinquains, limericks, and more—all about the monarch butterfly. Plus, there are interesting endnotes that correspond to each poem. Here’s my favorite, the final poem:
Before
by Avis Harley
The butterfly was there
before any human art was made.
Before cathedrals rose in prayer,
the butterfly was there.
Before pyramids pierced the air
or Great Wall stones were laid,
the butterfly was there.
Before any human, art was made.
From Harley, Avis. 2008. The Monarch’s Progress; Poems with Wings. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press. p. 27
*Invite kids to join in on the repeated line as you read it aloud.
*Pair with the Orbis Pictus award winning nonfiction picture book, An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly by Laurence Pringle and Bob Marstall
And for more about Avis Harley and her work, check out
Poetry People.
Here’s an excerpt:Avis Harley’s poetry writing is characterized by its diversity and experimentation. She enjoys trying poetry in all its different formats and is adept at demonstrating poetic form for children. Her first collection
Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2000) includes twenty-seven original short poems, generally one for each letter of the alphabet such as acrostics, blank verse, cinquain, etc. In addition, a brief definition of the form is provided as a caption at the bottom of each page. Fourteen additional poetic forms are shared in the back of the book. This is a tremendous resource for children who want to try their own hands at creating poetry. Harley’s poem examples are brief, vivid, and clear.
Harley has a second volume of poetry organized around the same alphabet theme,
Leap Into Poetry (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2001). In this book, she provides 26 poems about insects, each demonstrating another poetic form or literary term, such as "jargon" or "karanamala." Once again, each term is also defined in a single line across the bottom of the page.
Avis Harley used color photographs as the centerpiece for her book
Sea Stars: Saltwater Poems (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2006) illustrated by Margaret Butschler. Each of these 27 poems was inspired by a photograph of a sea creature, and again Harley incorporates a variety of poetic forms–including rhyming couplets, haiku, tanka, and nursery rhyme parody. The poems are brief, well-crafted and clever, full of wordplay and accompanied by exquisite images. Brief endnotes provide additional information about each sea creature.
For playing with form and language, Avis Harley is a poet to watch!
Picture credit: Amazon
Castle is a downloadable pdf magazine full of hot art. This was a fun interview. Be inspired and see what makes jim tick.
jim
I can't believe how much enthusiastic feedback I've been getting on my moleskin sketches since I started posting them. I was contacted a couple of months back by Encore Magazine and they wanted to run a feature of my mad little doodles in issue #36. Encore is a multi-award winning German online art, design, and film magazine. It's a great read even without my art. Haaaha. And the subscription is free. You can find me on the contents page under art, titled Moleskin. Enjoy!
Note: I did the above montage of various moleskin pages and think I might be on to another technique/look. It's funny how every new thing I try ends up a happy surprise that sends me down a fresh new path.
jim
Oh what a beautiful post, the collage as well as the words. I just feel both!
Warm hug
>M<
Lovely art work. Just came from Lynns blog. So sorry about the notice to move. What a pain. Glad you are still going to PT for the visit with fellow bloggers. That would have only been like twisting the knife in the wound. I am getting to meet a fellow blogger from N Carolina tomorrow too as she drives thru our town to No CA.Just found out about it this morning. Will post about it after. Such fun. You have fun too.
gosh you make winter sound good. i'll take that kiss alright but i'll need long flannel underwear.
what a writer you are!
Nice art here. I always enjoy your take on things!
I like this one a lot.
BTW
I resent the print again, by courier this time.
Regard,
N
lots of em fly south for the winter too,great pic lov the mood it conveys: michael dailey
I hope you are having fun with the girls. You are all flocking together to create art and lasting friendships.
this is STUNNING.
and on this day, october 9, 2009, everything became right. the axis is balanced. the story begins.
love
kj
I love this art piece. It's even okay that I can't figure out how you did it.
You are HOME.
That has to be nice.
I hope the new home you create there will fullfill all of your dreams.
Beautiful!
and when home gets too cold? we should fly away... to a warmer place?
and isn't it home?
:)
the collage is masterly done... love it!
thanks also my dearest Lolo for your visit... your words always warm my heart...
love and peace to you
There is no place like home; right Dorothy?
Guess what winter has replaced fall here. Covered in snow.
Love Renee xoxo
Not all who wander are lost.... this is lovely lolo.
So glad you're enjoy all the wonders of home!
I have to tell you that I am guilty of living for your interpretations.
Have the best time ever.
Love Renee xoxo
I just read your comment on poppy and your post on the ABC blog!
YEAH!!!!! This is good!
Can't wait to see your place and YES I knew it would even be better.
Now you just enjoy your weekend there with the girls! because when you get back there will be a lot of work waiting for you!
Will mail you soon!
You paint with your luscious pallete of words...Lovely! :)
The digital collage is beautiful. I like migration too, here it is the V shaped geese flying south, honking and honking.
Beautiful. Love the contrast of the background and foreground. Very peaceful and wonderfully done.
nice work
This is stunningly beautiful!! Its affect on me is soothing. I've never experienced a ribbon of butterflies as you described but you expressed it so well with this piece.
Happy Autumn and stay warm :)
Gorgeous image! I remember seeing so many monarch butterflies when I was young. I hardly see any these days. I guess they all went west. ;)
nice setup on this...really brings to mind real butterfly swarms...
I have spent my entire life on the East Coast, mostly on its northern stretch, and it never occurred to me that places like California had any way of marking the change in the seasons.
Reading this made me realize that those signs exist; they're just different from the ones I'd be used to.
I'm with you on embracing the cold climate. After living in Deep South State I lost my taste for winter, but recently I've been harkening back to my Northeastern roots.
Beautiful collage and words. I always feel sad when I see the birds lined up ready to go - the end of Summer, then before I know it they're back again.
This is really beautiful. I LOVE the patterns of the butterflies, and the tree behind.