Journey

We have been watching the Migrant Winged Ones lift off from their Summer Homes here. We watch others as they pass through. We know still Others will come to stay, making our Little Farm their Winter Home. The Masterpiece of Nature is continuously changing and unfolding.

These days, I ponder the Journeys of the Winged Ones. We know snippets about them. Since Richard is an Ornithologist and Natural Scientist, we have our own Information Source for a start. We 3 C's have a myriad of questions and continue to seek answers. But we respect there is much we cannot know. We trust there is an Order and Plan which is beyond our Knowing. It simply works.

I continue to ponder the Lives of our Friends, the Monarch Butterflies. We know that in a year, Monarchs' Short but Exuberant Lives go through 4 Generations.

• In February and March, hibernating Monarchs reawaken in their Winter Homes in Mexico and California. They find Mates, begin northward flights and lay Eggs. Then they die after a Life Span of 4-5 months, which is the longest of the Monarch World.
• In March and April, that 1st Generation hatches and goes through a complete Life Cycle: Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly. As Adults, the Monarchs mate and lay Eggs on Host Plants. Our Milkweeds, which I love, are prime.
• In May and June, the 2nd Generation is hatched and the Life Cycle begins anew.
• In July and August, the 3rd Generation is hatched and a new Batch finds its own way in the World.
• In September and October, the 4th Generation is hatched. This Generation is not hardwired to lay Eggs. It is hardwired to fly. These Beautiful Butterflies on their Bright New Wings will migrate from their Summer Homes to precise locations for their Winter Homes in Mexico and California. These are the Ones we have in recent days watched depart from our Little Farm in Northeast Missouri. These are the Ones we watched in North Dakota do precisely the same. These are the ones my Friend Jean Riendeau saw suspended from Trees in the Highlands of Mexico.

When I ponder these 4th Generation Monarchs who have been our Companions on this Little Farm, I wonder: How do they know where they must go? They are going to a place where their Great Grandparents were, a place where they have never been before. How can they possibly know? And how can they arrive there on those Slender but Vibrant Wings?

I wonder about the Migrants in the Bird World. How do they know? Yet, when I see them at this Season, I see the Intention in their Actions and in their Flight. I see what could be described as a Fierce Fire of Life. Many also are going to Places they have never been before. Somehow they know.

I ponder on my supposedly Advanced Human Culture which has lived outside the Cycles of Nature for a very long time. We know that Sustainability is the place where we must go, but some of us have not a clue as to how to get there.

We hear Whispers of Stories from our Ancestors who struggled with issues of Sustainability. In our Families, my Grandmother Dora, my Father Jack, my Grandfather Fred, Richard's Mother Ethel were Gardeners. We also hear Whispers from All of Nature to guide our Flight.

We 3 C's have come to this Land to grow our own Food and to live as Sustainably as we can manage. In some ways, I think I might know at a deep cellular level the compulsion of the Monarch. I know not how I will get there, but I trust that I will. I will find my way. I think Living as If Nature Mattered, Living so that Other Generations May Also Find their Place, is hardwired into us, just like the Migrants who pass at this Season.

Be well, Companions, on your Amazing Flight.