The Day I Saw the Beauty
Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 3:07 pm
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
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