1 minute read
SUPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE
from FPA June 2023
by Newsroom
front steps, and the walls of their cage. I couldn’t watch for 24 hours a day, and, as often as I looked, I never saw the spinning. They waited until I wasn’t looking. I saw only finished pale green chrysalises.
You can tell when the butterfly is about to emerge. The skin of the chrysalis gets thin and you can see the black and orange of the wings. So you sit down to watch. Nothing happens. You watch some more. Nothing. You keep watching. More nothing. You think, “I have time to make a cup of tea.” When you return with your tea, a butterfly is hanging from the bottom of the chrysalis, drying its wings. I never saw an emergence.
Still, I had the satisfaction of knowing I had made a contribution, as my guests fluttered off in the general direction of Mexico.
In the years since then, my milkweed patch has grown, but I’ve had very few caterpillars. Maybe this year. My milkweed and I will be ready. I’ll be watching.
Contact jlindsay@tidewater.net.
Answers on page 18
