from the butterfly exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC

something to consider

A trio of butterflies, almost reckless in their fun, flap bold, brittle and beautiful in a game of 'let's duck and weave through the visitors, silently bumping them with a puff of air'.

They chose life over looks.

© 2008 joe blend. All rights reserved.

It was a really interesting exhibit. In a relatively small room/corridor, sealed to keep in the humidity and the flapping exhibits, the butterflies were everywhere and nowhere. No sounds to indicate movement, just a flutter in your peripheral vision or a flash of color next to a leaf. And you had to watch every step you made, there was no way of knowing where (or when) a butterfly would decide to sit.

To see one in public is amazing; to see many of them in one space is profound.

url - http://www.mnh.si.edu/