Nope, nothing to do with food. Nothing to do with my every-day life either. Just something on my mind lately.

The delicate beauty of Butterflies has always fascinated me. To me they are a creature that bridges the gap between the make believe world of Elves, Fairies and Unicorns and the reality we live in. They are like little fluttering symbols of the bits of magic and beauty that should be in our daily lives but usually isn’t.

Butterflies came back to the fore-front of my mind a few months ago when I had a dream about a dear friend that was in a very stressful and dangerous time in her life. I went to sleep that night praying protection over her and her son. In the dream the danger of violent harm was coming to her house. I prayed as hard as I could in the dream that she would be protected because it seemed as though there were no normal recourse for her safety. Just as the danger got close to her house a huge butterfly came down and landed on her little house completely encompassing it. Quietly folding it’s wings down over her yard it was like a gigantic camaflouge blanket covering her home, and her and her son in safety while they slept. Those intending her harm were unable to find her and the beautiful butterfly blended in perfectly with the dark night and snow patterned streets and their lights.

I woke up crying yet smiling at the same time with an overwhelming sense of peace that my friend would be alright.

A dream is just that. A dream, but it awakened in me a new fascination with these beautiful creatures from a photographic point of view. I have been struggling along in my own bone-headed way trying to learn how to be a better photographer and discovered that Butterflies make very challenging subjects. Particularly when one doesn’t have all of the cool equipment that would make it easier to capture them. The past few weeks I’ve stalked Butterflies all over our yard, all over the park we visited, and drove down a dirt road shooting pictures of them as I stood precariously balancing through the sunroof of the car.

Hope you enjoy some of these images even a tiny bit as much as I enjoyed capturing them! =)

Three in a Row

Fly Butterfly, Fly

Butterfly Social

A thing of Beauty

Monarch

Ready for launch

Stunning Details

And one last shot to close this photo post.

Evening by the River

Ok, so maybe one more. Another photo with a bit of magic in it. If I were to write a story about this photo it would be about a Fairy that took a journey across the Pebbly Creek to visit an Ailing Toad on the other side. She brought some fairy dust with her to mix in some tea to help the poor Toad recover from his cold. As she stepped off of the Flowercraft she slipped and a bit of dust spilled out and sprinkled the water with diamonds.  The grass plank in-place awaiting her return for the journey back.  There would of course be much much more to the story but, that’s the snippet that would explain the photo. =D

Hope you all have a wonderful day with a touch of magic to it. Even if it’s just enjoying the beauty of a Butterfly as it flits through your life! =)