Monday, March 26, 2007

Cacophany of children's voices

So we made it over to the botanical gardens yesterday to see the Papillons en Liberté, an annual event where they load up one of the greenhouses with butterflies. I hadn't really thought about it being a family type event but when we arrived, there was a cacophony of excited children's voices filling the entrance. We got in and stood at the rear of the line. The line moved very slowly. What they didn't tell you when you got into the line was that it would take over an hour to get through the line. The line snaked through 4 greenhouses before it led to the butterfly filled greenhouse. Can you picture it? Hundreds and hundreds of children and their parents waiting to see the butterflies. Signs saying "do not touch anything" were everywhere and these kids were all adrenalined up over the promised insects ahead. It was comical, the exasperated parents, the tantrum throwing children, the people leaving the line because it's all just too much for the kids to be calm for a whole hour while waiting. Each time a child burst into tears and wailed, I laughed. I don't know why, but the tantrums always make me laugh.


Finally, we arrived and entered the magical butterfly filled greenhouse. It was fairy-like and spooky at the same time. We spent about a half an hour in there, mesmerized by the different patterns and sizes of butterflies, some of them alighting on us. Everyone was taking pictures and I was no exception. Eventually, I started to get grossed out by the butterflies. The closer you look at them, the more buggy they get. I took 90 shots and got two good ones. One of butterflies and one of flowers. What was really cool about the orchid shot is that the pattern strikingly resembles a butterfly. I love how nature does that repeating pattern thing.


18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like to think of Butterflies being like humans. Huh! They start out as repulsive caterpilars. Eating plants and crawling around. Then they go into a cocoon. The emerge as a beautiful Butterfly. Now they sip nectar and they can fly.
We live our lives dull and mundane then we go into our coffins. We emerge in heaven as beautiful beings that can do things we never imagined.
Sorry, I'm preoccupied with death today. It has been 90 days since my Nephew died and I miss him so much.

bardelf said...

Good that the children's tantrums became entertaining for you. I think I would have become quite annoyed after having to endure that for an hour.

Very cool that the orchid mimics the butterfly's design! Lovely photograph.

CoffeeDog said...

I think you have to use a tripod to get good butterfly pics.

Snooze said...

I was cringing yesterday when I read about you going to the butterfly exhibit because they creep me the hell out. I do love the two photos you got though.

Jason said...

Yes, I'm glad the tantrums make you laugh. I, on the other hand, would be a basketcase and would have to leave.

Enemy of the Republic said...

I agree with Jason. I avoid a lot of those places during the summer because that's when the summer camp kids go, and the teenagers who supervise them are text messaging each other instead of watching them. I've even had to step in to keep order---you can take the teacher out of the classroom but....

Devo said...

Nice pictures. I have small kids and I can't stand the tantrums either. Lineups with kids suck, whether they are your own kids or someone else's. Have a nice Monday. Devo

dpaste said...

There was a live butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History for forever and I kept procrastinating and eventually missed it. I so regret that.

GayProf said...

I feel the same about looking at a butterfly. A short glance and they are pretty. Look at them for a long time, and they just become giant moths with creepy bodies.

Dolly Parton has a butterfly obsession. Just thought I would toss that in there.

dirk.mancuso said...

They may be pretty to look at, but butterflies are bugs in my book.

And bugs make me squeal like a little girl.

Rupert said...

Oh! Oh! Oh!

I love butterflies. For lunch.

Doug said...

That sounds so cool! Except the children's tantrums part.

A Lewis said...

I cannot do lines and children at the same time. Each one is bad enough by itself.....let alone combining them.

Patricia said...

isn't that just like life. try something 90 times in order to get it beautiful twice.

it was worth it.

abnitude said...

the orchid shot is beautiful. loved the part where the bugs got gross. i would have made it about 5 minutes, i think.(lol)

dawn said...

Glad you outlasted the kids and made it into see the purty butterflies. Great pics. Although I would have liked to see some of the kids having a breakdown...next time take a few shots of the tantrums.

Nicki said...

Those are gorgeous. They have a Butterfly World near where I lived in Florida, but I couldn't be bothered to go. This makes me want to visit the next time I'm down there.

Doug Taron said...

Nice photos. I run a butterfly exhibit like that one here in Chicago. It's lots of fun from the standpoint of operating it. The white butterflies in your photo are from southeast Asia. They are called rice paper butterflies and are related to monarchs.