I saw the first signs of spring the other day while walking the dog. Yesterday on a training hike, the first butterflies danced above 8000 ft. The absence of flowers made them seem out of place. Today though, the first wild flowers on the mesa at 7000 ft elevation appeared. One butterfly I saw yesterday was a monarch and may have filled his or her belly on the mesa before making the flight north.
Monarchs are highly sensitive to weather and climate. They depend on environmental cues (temperature in particular) to trigger reproduction, migration, and hibernation. If the temperatures in Mexico are higher than normal, the Monarchs start their migration and can make it to northern NM in March. I make up stories about what I see as I walk and hike. The monarch will make it through his or her full life cycle, I tell myself, while the white butterfly will die for lack of food. Images of mothers holding starving children have been plaguing my mind. Children who will die, while food is waiting outside borders, on a ship at sea.
I’m powerless when it comes to these early butterflies surviving or not. I can plant milkweed and other flowers in summer to help the butterfly population thrive. A widespread climate warming is affecting large numbers of butterflies across a vast swath of the West and suggests a more dire situation that we cannot alleviate simply by setting aside habitat. While the populations of butterfly species can vary widely from year to year, researchers found an annual 1.6 percent drop in butterfly numbers in the Western United States over the last four decades. Butterflies may have a chance in Northern New Mexico, because it is cooler than the rest of the western US. We need butterflies for pollinating agricultural crops, not just wildflowers.
I’m powerless over starving children in Gaza, Sudan, or anywhere in the world. I can send my donation to the World Kitchen. I can vote for a candidate who doesn’t support the Israeli government’s genocide. But for many children it will be too late. Knowing what I feel as I see the images in my mind, I can only imagine the deep numbing pain the mother holding the child must feel. Children, like butterflies, are beautiful creatures who must dance, move, explore, and laugh. Butterflies secure a future crop, our sustenance. Children secure a future for humanity.
The return of spring supports my trust in nature’s process. As winter hibernation wanes, the tide turns to flowering and growth. I don’t trust the waxing and waning of human powers. Putin’s desire for power will not wane. Israeli government’s retaliation is disproportionate to Hamas’ action. Holocaust victims are committing genocide. There are no natural seasons for powerhunger, for hatred and revenge. The deep distortions that result from prior genocides, from countries steeped in war, from starvation and political brainwashing have long-lasting effects through generations.
The Ukrainian women I met in Baja who escaped to Canada said: “I am broken in half, but life goes on.” Life, spring, a new season goes on as I witness on my walks. New flowers come up after a devastating wild fire. I’ve walked through days of wildfire destroyed wilderness on the Pacific Crest trail and saw the signs of new life. Life force is powerful. Let’s hold those who need it and share what we have to give.
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Life wins in the end. Beautiful. Donation done.