The butterfly obtains.

I was recently in New York City and had a chance to visit one of my faves, the American Museum of Natural History. And heck yes, I paid the extra five bucks to visit the Butterfly Conservatory. I was in the city when the temperature was at record lows; how lovely was it to go into a sweltering greenhouse and gaze upon hundreds of fluttering butterflies?



I very quickly fixated on the butterflies with ripped wings and war wounds.


I was especially enchanted by a butterfly that clung to a tree and never moved, whose wingspan was wider than both of my hands. The Butterfly Expert told me that the butterfly was about to die; at that point it had nearly fulfilled its lifespan of seven days, and had lost most of its wings. And then the Butterfly Expert was sorry, because he made me and the little girl next to me cry.


And then I continued to cry when I saw this beautiful row of young monarch chrysalises ...

... And a tiger swallowtail emerging from its pupal case.

But of course, the most exciting part of my visit to the museum? The largest rock exhibit I have ever seen in my life!!!