More of the magic of the earth: I have never personally got to be part of a caterpillar changing into a chrysalis and then a butterfly……until just a few weeks ago. 

 This big black swallowtail caterpillar was in some flowers behind my house, in a big flower box. I saw it there for a couple days, then either it shrank, or there was a smaller one. Then I read that they shrink their body size before they’re about to transform.

 Several days later, the transformation was going on. First the caterpillar turned more all shades of green, and then it attached itself to a geranium stem with 2 fine threads.  By the next day it was a chrysalis. 

 When I did online research, it seemed that these insects have 2 generations each summer in this part of the country, and at this time of year, this generation would winter-over as a chrysalis. 

 I wanted to protect it from being eaten by a bird or whatever. I borrowed a butterfly cage and stood the geranium stem in there and zipped it shut. Safe on the porch, with a candle inside so it wouldn’t blow away. 

 And waited, but watched.   Maybe…….?

 About 3 weeks passed. I just looked at it every day. Then yesterday, something caught my eye. What, it’s the butterfly!

I opened the zipper and brought it near the opening with my finger. 

It walked out of the little cage, which was on a table on my porch, and very quickly flew down to the ground, landing in a fern. It sat there for maybe 30 seconds, flapping and trying its wings. 

 Then this beautiful little creature flew away, off to go live a butterfly life. Lots of people have already experienced this process, but this was a first for me, and it was pretty amazing.