The White River Gardens Butterfly Garden is OPEN for the season!  Yeah!  We’ve come so far since last year, when we faced Sara’s deathly, and rather unexpected, fear of butterflies.  To be fair, they do fly about in unpredictable ways.  Being in an enclosed space with hundreds of butterflies darting at your head can be overwhelming.

Sara walked right up to the butterfly she has always called, “Ole One Eye”, and said, “I’m not scared of you anymore!”  Now she is insisting we call this brown beast by its real name.  Yup, contrary to popular belief, this butterfly is NOT scientifically named Ole One Eye.  It’s the Owl Butterfly.  A bit of a denouement, yes?

The Owl Butterfly is not to be confused with the “Buckeye Butterfly”, who has far more spots.  My goal is to get a picture of the backside of the Owl’s wings.  They are cornflower blue!  No joke…just beautiful.  The Buckeye?  Looks the same all over….just like big, sprawling Ohio.

I love the cocoon cage: hundreds of cocoons in long rows where we can stand and watch butterflies emerging.  It’s awesome.  The girls don’t quite get why I find this big plastic box so cool, but someday they will.

See you there!