The Day I Saw the Beauty

[Bryan H]

In this charming piece on this very site, Alan Roberton recalls the origins of his passion for butterflies and a significant moment in coming to appreciate the beauty of the natural world around him.

Alan hasn't ever forsaken his interest but I have only recently 'come back' to butterflies. Alan's article evokes for me that particular joy I have found in my 'new' interest: a remembrance of those distant summer afternoons of childhood, spent in meadows and woods teeming with plant and insect life.

Only this week I found myself lying on my belly in the rabbit droppings and the prickly stuff, trying for a photo of a Common Blue. Just for a few moments I felt ridiculous, but I was soon overtaken by a sense of excitement as my butterfly came into focus in the viewfinder.

Perhaps in many of us a childhood engagement with nature is too soon supplanted by the more mundane business of being a 'grown-up' in today's world. When I start up about my latest butterfly escapades I notice how often my friends' gaze switches to the mid-distance! Of course, in my view, it's them who are 'missing' something, and Alan's article sums up nicely what that is!

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/reports_roberton.php

Cheers,

Bryan

[Dave McCormick]

That really is an amazing story. That would make many people think twice before killing butterflies.

Thank god we live in the the age of digital cameras and we can "capture" butterflies and moths by photographing them.