A bit of magic happened this weekend. I was on a wildflower and winery do-it-yourself tour of the Texas Hill Country, and found myself surrounded by butterflies. Thousands, maybe millions, of them. They coated the roads, the flowers, the air and my imagination. I’ve never seen so many at one time. I found myself wishing I had a faster shutter speed on my camera, because I couldn’t click fast enough to capture all that I wanted to.
Mile after mile, we were assaulted by butterflies and carpets of wildflowers. And cows. And ants. And sky so blue it hurt my eyes to look at it. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit back and take it all in. It was a visual assault that left me breathless. Sometimes moments like these inspire a story idea, sometimes not. But always, they make me smile. So, for your visual pleasure, come take a tour with me through the Texas Hill Country. And tell me, what’s amazing near where you live? Have you gone to see it? Did it inspire you?
I’m amazed by nature time and time again. I simply love it. It’s God’s temple and a true work of art. What you describe sounds fabulous. When we took the kids back to DC we got to go into a butterfly exhibit at the Smithsonian. It was really cool. I know they have them in other places as well. I recommend it. The wide variety of butterflies are so pretty. Have your camera ready!
Oh I’d love to go see that! I’d love to know why there are so many out right now. It just seemed like an explosion of one particular type of butterfly. It was awesome, although I kept hitting them with the car while I was driving which made me sad. There’s just no way to avoid them!
We saw a live butterfly exhibit once–but I can’t remember where it was!
That scenery is so, so pretty! Great photos Melinda 🙂
Thanks! I think I saw a butterfly exhibit at Fair Park, but I’m not sure if it was permanent. I need to check that out. They also had one at Disney last year, but I’m pretty sure that one was temporary. It was, of course, spectacular. There’s just something so fun and magical about butterflies!
Gorgeous photos, Melinda. Thanks for sharing. Are you a gardner? I’m not, but my gardening friends tell me you can plant flowers that attract butterflies to your garden. And we saw a butterfly house once where they were selling a “butterfly catcher.” It didn’t actually catch butterflies, but it attracted them in droves. It was a plastic cereal bowl in a bright color such as orange or yellow, and it had a nylon scrubber inside and the bowl was filled with sugar water. We bought one for $4, but you could make one yourself. And it worked! We had butterflies all over the yard!!
Thanks Diane! I’m not really a gardner, no, but I’ve heard of butterfly bushes. We used to have one at the corner of our house which I loved. Now we’re in an apartment with no balcony, so I can’t put your idea into practice. As soon as we get a house though I’m going to try it. Does this thing attract ants and bees as well? Could do without those 😉
Hi Melinda. Since I live in this are (Georgetown), I get to see most of the same amazing things you’ve captured in your photos. I couldn’t believe the butterflies this year. I’ve never seen that many before. There must have been some massive, widespread, cocoon escape!
Which wineries do you like to visit? We love to go wine tasting. The closest one to us is the one in Florence.
I’d never visited any of the Texas wineries before, so this time we stopped at five around Marble Falls. Parissos is the one that comes to mind. They were all relaxing, although we only bought wine at one of them. I found most of them too dry for my taste. But…there are 33 on the trail so we have a lot more to visit.
My parents live in Granbury, and my mother said one entire side of the house was coated in butterflies sunning themselves. I’m quite sure this is all a sign of something…not sure what, but something 🙂
Stunning images, Melinda. Such beautiful butterflies and flowers. Enjoy the summer weather 🙂 I’m really looking forward to proper spring and for the rain to stop. My most beautiful things are the kids who love the muddy puddles.
Thanks Reeta 🙂 I like to stomp around in puddles too. I’m a big kid at heart 😉