Miraculous Monarchs

All last summer, we searched every milkweed plant we saw for monarch caterpillars. We did the same this summer, for weeks. Maya became an expert at identifying milkweed from afar. I told her about raising monarchs when I was a kid: bringing them daily milkweed leaves, waiting for them to transform into butterflies, then setting them free. I wished for the same wondrous experience for her. But we found no signs of the distinctive striped caterpillars.

Until finally, on July 3, we hit the jackpot!

We found eight at once! We happened upon them near a small lake where we were fishing and catching frogs. The caterpillars ranged in size from itty-bitty to about as large as they get. Based on my experience and the reading I've done, I do believe they have a better chance of survival with help from some conscientious humans. So we brought them all home.

We installed them in two big jars and harvested fresh milkweed for them each day from the patch in our garden. 

Maya was, luckily, almost as excited about them as I was.

It's important to me that this small kid in my care gets plenty of close contact with the natural world. At the same time, I'm responsible for the well-being of these delicate wild critters in our care. The caterpillars didn't particularly need any handling, but they seemed no worse for the (limited and supervised) visiting hours. And Maya benefited hugely from feeling their tickly little legs moving across her skin. She noticed the longer antennas on their heads and the shorter, faux-antennas on their back ends. She got to see firsthand how quickly they grew bigger. She collected fresh milkweed and helped me dump out the old leaves and plentiful caterpillar poop. She asked and wondered and observed.

Meanwhile, the caterpillars munched and grew, rested, shed their too-small skins, and munched and grew some more.

Medium, large, and itty bitty.

After just a few days, the biggest ones were hanging at the top of the jars in J-shapes. They soon transformed into jade-green chrysalises flecked with gold. After another week or so, the two tiny ones had grown to full size and become chrysalises as well.

They spin a silky web that attaches them firmly to the smooth wall of the jar.

I'd never seen the caterpillar-to-chrysalis transformation in action. With eight opportunities, I hoped this would be my chance. The caterpillar hangs upside down, barely moving, for about 24 hours. But the change itself goes remarkably fast. It's actually a final molt. The caterpillar sheds one last skin to reveal the chrysalis beneath. Despite watching carefully, I missed the first few, sometimes just by minutes. Finally I saw one very shortly after it changed - it was still soft and wrinkly and wriggling around, but it was all green. Wild! We never actually caught the whole process, start to finish, but Maya and I did see a few more in the soft, wriggling, green stage before they hardened into smooth chrysalises.

I'd also never watched a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. It's easy to tell when it's imminent. The chrysalis becomes transparent and you can see the orange-and-black wings inside. My sources claimed that the butterflies usually emerge in mid-morning.

The butterfly within is clearly visible.

The first one actually came out in the evening, but the next morning two more looked ready. Sure enough, our vigilance paid off. Maya and I watched the chrysalis split open vertically and the butterfly break out. 

The butterfly emerges in the same head-down position as the hanging caterpillar.

Immediately after emergence, the abdomen is swollen with fluid and the wings are very small.

The butterfly pumps fluid from its abdomen into its wings and they quickly grow to full size. But it takes several hours for the wings to dry and be ready for flight, so it doesn't go anywhere right away.

It's a perfect opportunity to spend a little more time admiring them before they fly off into their new butterfly lives.They seem very comfortable hanging out on our fingers.

Or even faces! This one crawled from my finger up my arm, around to my back, and right up onto my cheek.

Maya was captivated. Even the canine was curious.

They are truly beautiful. And insect metamorphosis is just plain mind-boggling.

Even after seeing the entire process, up close, first-hand, from childhood on, it's hard to believe that this nectar-sipping winged wonder is the very same creature as the stripy caterpillar that industriously munched milkweed leaves.

One last tidbit: Did you know that it's easy to tell the sex of a monarch butterfly? The two black dots on the lower wings of the one below mark it as a male. They are scent glands that only the males have. Males also typically have narrower black lines separating the orange patches on their wings than the females do.

All eight of our caterpillars made a successful metamorphosis. Four males and four females, as best I could tell. (I forgot to check the first one and had to make a guess from a few photos we took before it flew.) One by one, we wished them luck as they fluttered off to find nectar and mates and perpetuate the next generation.

Then, a few weeks later, we found another batch in the field at Burt Lake, We brought home four more to share with the extended family. They all soon transformed into chrysalises. I didn't want to confuse them with a long-distance move before releasing them as butterflies, so we left them at the cottage to emerge. My mom reports that they all emerged and flew.

We even spotted one more caterpillar near Burt Lake on Labor Day weekend, but we were on our way to the Upper Peninsula and left it in situ (to Maya's dismay). Given how many caterpillars we found, a number of other friends who also reported caterpillar success, and the many butterflies we spotted, it seemed to be a good year for monarchs - much better than other recent ones. I don't know what this means for their long-term survival, but I'll take this as a rare piece of good news!

Summer Snapshots 2016

Oh, here we go again. I'm a full season behind, but let's see if I can catch up in a hurry. Here are some highlights of our summer, mostly starring our favorite small person who eats it all up with such relish.

Our fruit-hound kicks off the season with some June watermelon. Oh, and she's even dressed to match!

Did I mention she's a fruit-hound? Roadside-stand strawberries made a day of driving around with Papa into a sweet treat.

I went driving around with Nick, too. He finally convinced me to take a motorcycle trip with him. Not one for easing into things, he suggested we head to the U.P. (We started at Burt Lake, leaving Maya there with Grandma and Grandpa for the day.) So, over the Mackinac Bridge we went! Gulp! To Cedarville, then to DeTour, and back again with sore backsides by the end.

We took a Father's Day canoe trip on the Boardman River, with several beach breaks along the way.

In July, we road-tripped west. At Freedom Fest in Balsam Lake, Wisconsin (Nick's hometown), Maya was absolutely certain that she needed to try this bungee-bounce. She's her Papa's girl!

Fishing by canoe on the Yellow River at the Carlson family cabin. Nick found a Maya-sized pole. No fish caught on that one, but Aunt Christina snagged a nice bass.

Then we headed to Duluth and northward up the shore. This is sacred ground for me: I couldn't wait to dip Maya's toes in mighty Lake Superior. We only got as far as Two Harbors this time, but there was some good rock-hunting on the beach there.

We arrived back home just in time for the cherry harvest. It's worth the trek to Frankfort to pick the beauties, both tart and sweet, at North Star Organics. Need I say that Maya had a great time? (And ate her weight in cherries?)

Glorious sunny days on the shore of our great Lake Michigan are the essence of summer. Here are Nick and Maya saluting the last rays on an evening walk near North Bar Lake.

A rare sighting of all three of us, thanks to the nice lady on the beach who said we looked cute and offered to snap a shot.

 

Balance bike meetup! This ridiculously cute, but also instructive, event happened weekly at a nearby town park. There's Maya on her little red Strider, cruising right along.

Grandpa with his TWO grandchildren! We're all excited to help Jeff and Courtney welcome Alexander to the family.

The California crew came to Burt Lake for their annual visit at the end of July. Maya was again delighted to spend time with cousin Marlo. She managed to knock her to the ground with an over-enthusiastic hug on the first day, but after that it was all pretty sweet and adorable. Here they are at the u-pick raspberry patch.

And collaborating on a paint-with-water masterpiece on the front walk.

Canoe ride with two toddlers. 

 

Dog ride with three cousins. Aunt Sarah gives Colby, Maya, and Maggie a push.

The whole gang, almost. We missed (big) Colby and Jane this year.

 

Maisie enjoys a visit to stick heaven at the North End.

Maya was pretty thrilled to hold her new cousin. She calls him Baby Alexander or, sometimes, Alex Babyzander.

The next weekend, we filled up the porch with relatives again - a whole different set! This is a good showing from the Ratzows, my mother's side of the family. Three of her four siblings, plus four of my cousins and their families, joined us at Burt Lake. We had a great time connecting and reconnecting with three generations.

A spontaneous late August camping trip brought us to the Betsie River, not far from home but nice for a night in the wilds. A rainy hike the next morning led to lots of puddle-jumping by the small one in the purple raincoat.

Back at home, we enjoyed lots of backyard time and some garden treats. Again this year, the garden was not as productive as I'd hoped, but at least we had cherry tomatoes aplenty and a very willing little picker!

For the full summer album, click here. You'll note there's a new view now that Picasa has merged with Google photos. I find the whole thing a little cumbersome and the captions hard to read, but am hoping for some improvements over time...

Maya in the Garden

This post has been languishing in my drafts folder for far too long. With the growing season all but over, I'd best get it up!

In years past, my garden has featured heavily on this blog. This year, it was unimpressive. The reasons were three-fold:
   1) The weather. (A cold, slow start to spring, followed by lengthy dry spells at just the wrong times for seeds to germinate.)
  2) The lack of tomatoes. (I decided not to plant any this year in an attempt to banish the blight that's taken hold as I've rotated through all possible planting locations. Tomatoes usually take up at least a third of the garden, so it was bound to feel sparse.)
  3) My limited time for gardening, given that I've been concentrating on raising one particular little sprout.

Mid July - 4.5 months old

But she's at least as scrumptious as any of my previous harvests, wouldn't you say? 

And we certainly think she's thriving! "Growing like a weed" is not exactly the right phrase for our petite little peanut. She's been hanging out at the bottom of the growth chart, but growing she is. Meanwhile, she's strong and enthusiastic.

Late June - almost 4 months old

She enjoys the time we do spend in the garden, which makes me excited for years to come when she'll really be able to dig in. It'll be so fun when she can run out to the garden, grab peas or cherry tomatoes, and pop them straight into her mouth.

There's a good crop of volunteer sunflowers and other perennial flowers scattered around the yard, so often our garden excursions involve gathering some blossoms for a table bouquet.

Late July - almost 5 months old

This photo from a couple months ago looks to be a peaceful scene, doesn't it? Later in the season, the reality was rather different; she'd attempt to grab every flower I'd pick, crumple it up, and shove it directly into her mouth.

We did manage to grow a few things. A good crop of arugula, as usual; some peppers; some herbs. The cucumbers were decent. Maya approved.

Early September - 6 months old

But mostly we focused on growing our little Maya-Bean. Before she was born, we wondered if we'd keep Figgy as a nickname, but it didn't stick. Instead, she is frequently referred to as Sweet Pea, Sweet Potato, Maya Papaya, or, most frequently, Little Bean.

Even without an impressive harvest, we've been eating plenty of veggies. We signed up for a farm share from our friends at Birch Point Farm this season to compensate for my decreased productivity, so our weekly box of produce keeps us in the green. Maya herself is now sampling an increasingly impressive variety of produce, from carrots, squash, and potatoes to leeks, celeriac, and kale. She eats it all with gusto. We think that bodes well.

She's also had lots of veggie playtime.

Maya received these adorable stuffed vegetables from one of my Ranger Rick coworkers. I hung them from a mobile and for a long stretch of months, every day included "Veggie Time." It started with careful studying of the objects and tentative hand motions...

Late May - almost 3 months old

...soon replaced with swipes and shrieks... 

Mid July - 4.5 months old

... and finally kicks and complete vegetable tackles.

Early August - 5 months old

The mobile has now been retired due to extremely enthusiastic yanking, but she enjoys removing the veggies from their crate and chewing on them one by one.

Meanwhile, I have managed to sew a bit. A week or two of decent naptimes produced this garden quilt. I love these fabrics from Alexander Henry's "Growing Green" collection, which I interspersed and backed with linen. So now Maya can play in her "garden" anytime of the year.

Early August - 5 months old

It made a fine place for tasting toes during the height of that season, back in August.

Come to think of it, I made another garden-themed item over the summer, too. This is Henny Penny and her chicks, from this book. 

The chicks tuck under Mama Hen's wings and stick there with a strip of velcro. 

This Henny Penny was a first birthday gift for my nearly-nephew Colby (little bro to Maggie), for whom I also made a similar garden quilt when he was just a new sprout. I have another Henny cut out, waiting for me to sew it up for Maya one of these days. Maya is very happy to watch Pippi, Polly, and Petunia, the real chickens, scratching and pecking around the yard, so I think she'll have fun with this toy. (Did I mention that our own Penny is no more? She flew on to greener pastures during the depths of last winter.)

Anyhow, what with all that, I suppose it was a pretty decent growing season after all!