Showing posts with label black swallowtail butterfly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black swallowtail butterfly. Show all posts

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Nectar Made for You

We stand by the neighbor's flowerbeds and watch butterflies dance and skip across the petunias. 

Black Swallowtail in the Petunias

I learn that this butterfly tastes the flowers with her feet to decide whether she wants to drink the nectar here.  The dance we observe is a taste-test (who knew?).  Next, she unfolds her proboscis (a straw!) to slurp up the nectar inside the flower. 

Black Swallowtail Tasting with Feet © Live with Flair
 Then she dives into the flower she wants and drinks. 

Black Swallowtail Drinking Nectar
I watch in amazement at the tasting dance.  She's discerning--picky and sensitive--about where she quenches her thirst.  I find myself remembering the dance and longing for the kind of sensitivity that would alert me to where and when I might dive in.

Our feet will take us many places during this new season, but I only want to dive deeply into places of real nectar.  If it doesn't suit me, I rise in the dance and skip on to new openings.  So many cups beg for our sipping.  I want the nectar made for me. 

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Journal:  What will I say "no" to this new upcoming season?