The Easter Butterfly

Happy Easter from Glover Gardens. Spring is in full bloom here, coronavirus or not.

In the pandemonium of the pandemic, it’s nice to be reminded of redemption, faith in things you can’t see and deliverance from evil. And rebirth.

We had an Easter butterfly here to illustrate those enduring concepts.

But I have to tell you the backstory first.

My Norwegian teammate brought a gift for the Grill-Meister and me when he came to our house a couple of years ago for a team party: a handmade butterfly house. He brought it all the way here from Norway in his suitcase. Wow, what a meaningful gift! You can see it in a photo I snapped on Good Friday. I whipped out the iPhone because I liked that the Grill-Meister had turned on what he calls “the happy lights” over the grill-gazebo as he was smoking the ribs. The butterfly house is on the far column of the outdoor kitchen.

We didn’t realize on Good Friday that one of God’s creatures was ready to be reborn into its new life, in the chrysalis you can barely see hanging beneath the butterfly house. It’s sheer accident that I got it in the photos.

But yesterday afternoon, lo and behold, a butterfly was there! The Grill-Meister called to me, “come look, come look!” I only had my iPhone for all this, so the images aren’t optimum, but the reminder of the Easter miracle is inspiring, nonetheless.

I’ve never seen a just-born butterfly before. It stayed in this position for quite a while, and I was worried that something was wrong with it. Then we left to pick up Easter-Eve dinner from an Italian restaurant for our older-generation relatives – front door delivery only, social-distancing respected! When we got home, the Easter Butterfly was perched on a twig on the ground nearby, practicing moving its wings. As before, it stayed in the same place for an extended period, and once again, I was worried.

And then, all of the sudden, it flew away, wafting on the breeze high above the cypress trees, its wings fluttering a timeless message: fear not, only believe.

Happy Easter, everyone. We shall overcome.

Stay home, stay safe, stay sane and stay in touch.

© 2020, Glover Gardens