Watching photographers & A love story

Living with photographers

In his quiet way James Bumgarner took a picture of his wife Gay Bumgarner
The Photographer
They are in Costa Rica and
She crouches in the undergrowth still and watchful
waiting, camera to her eye focused close.
There is a chance that the unusual butterfly of the area – it being the reason for their hike to this section of the forest, where it’s preferred plants grow --
and its unique black and white sworls, will come & be at home

She waits watching... carefully.  Filled with anticipation at this good spot and feeling lucky --- a lucky day perhaps.
she hears a click behind her and looks up smiling surprised to see her husband standing very near. 
He replaces the lens cap and wears a wry satisfied smile.
She smiles up at him-- and asks if he saw something "good."

He is happy with his camera and its long lens. He enjoys looking -- watching the exotic world ----and she thinks he would be just as happy with a good set of binoculars since he seldom actually takes a picture yet, he always seems content about it.
"Did you see something?” -- she wonders. 'what inspired him to actually take a picture?'
He looks at her with mischief and says,
"The view from here is just lovely" and she is filled with the pleasure of his attention and the compliment.
Their marriage is still brand new, her sense of good fortune unfazed.

He watches, as the wind plays with her hair
and smiles.
His pleasure in her company, her beauty, and her joy is a sturdy force
--- delight durable as an element of earth

In her white blond, Gringa hair, the butterfly is an exotic hair bow,
A stylish fascinator 
& as The Great Eggfly warms itself brief notions of flowers rise up -- butterfly visions-- created by the sun releasing the aromatic floral scent from her shampoo

Does the man speak to her of the butterfly?
No, likely not.
Her butterfly, the one meant for her, will come in time and she will be filled with excitement at its beauty and the efforts of making a picture.

Much later the yellow box of slides, "Kodachrome" comes in the mail and she peers  down her loupe at the slides on the lightbox.
She is confused and then she laughs in music.

Ah, the Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina)
She goes to him.
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Note: There weren't many photos that James Bumgarner took and this is one she kept.  These are my imaginings combined with my rememberings of those times.  For all who knew them, enjoy.  If you are a photographer or live with one....enjoy too.
Have you a photo or a story like this?

Sharon

Every day I find a new "favorite" photo in Gay's collection. As I continued working with more butterflies and caterpillars-- sorting and selecting the images I began to wonder "what exactly happens inside the chrysalis?". Ah, you are in for a treat, the answer is incredible.

My image of frivolous beings is gone. I am slack-jawed with what I learn about butterflies (Lepidoptera). In the previous post I was musing about what it might feel like to emerge from the chrysalis state and find yourself transformed into a butterfly (the imago). It is a vulnerable state. They have to dry out, pump up and harden their wings and establish circulation, make a proboscis (the tube they use like a straw to feed with), and not get eaten.

The process of transformation is simply amazing-- science fiction couldn't do better. A caterpillars and butterfly have all the same parts but these parts are formed for completely different life stages and purposes. As one biologist said "Caterpillars are all about eating, and butterflies are all about sex"

The caterpillar molts and then instead of creating new skin it makes a chrysalis. It then digests itself. It melts-- all of it, heart, nervous system, mouth....a partial death.

Most of the body breaks down into the "imaginal cells", which are undifferentiated -- like stem cells, they can become any type of cell. The chrysalis is a thimble-sized bag of fluid like a culture media. From this soup, in a matter of weeks or so, it varies with season and species, the imaginal cells put themselves back together into a new shape.

For a nice verbal and audio description of the process go to:

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/ChrysalisDevelopmentLPB.html

This process is hormonally regulated, of course....It is impossible for me to imagine what the caterpillar thinks is going to happen as it heads off to make the chrysalis. But, I suppose granting too much psychology to zoology should be done with caution.

Freedom may start by feeling terrible. Wet wings, whole body aches, spinning head, confusion, disorientation, gripping on to a stick, and then..... after awhile, your wings dry a bit, and you think ... "maybe I will go suck some juice out of a flower and feel better"
You aren't even sure what a flower is really but the whole idea sounds right.