SUNNYSIDE BEACH…Small garden teeming with MONARCH BUTTERFLIES SEPT. 17, 2019


MONARCH BUTTERFLIES KNOW WHERE TO GO…SUNNYSIDE  BEACH IN SEPTEMBER

alan skeoch
sept. 2019


“Wish you were with us  today.”
“Why?”
“An invasion of Monarch  Butterflies at Sunnyside Beach”
“Why would they congregate there…it’s a barren  stretch of
boardwalk and  water.”
“True but there is  one small Butterfly Garden between Sunnysdie
Swimming  Pool and  the Palais  Royale….loaded with Monarch
Butterfly right now….”
“Tale a  break…take a look…lots of room to park.”





“Beautiful board  walk…lovely beach…but looks devoid of life forms other than
the two legged  kind.”

“Then suddenly there in front of you is the Butterfly Garden…lots of things
fluttering.”



“This picture looks nondescript until you look clearly and see FOUR MONARCH BUTTERFLYS!!!”




“Marjorie and some others collected seeds.”
“Is that  legal?”
“Catch  me if you can.”




There are no milkweed  plants in the Sunnyside Beach  Garden.

“But fear not.”





“Meanwhile, 45 miles away from the Sunnyside Monarch Butterfly ‘swarm’, two young Monarch  caterpillars
were chewing  merrily at our little milkweed garden.  Sometimes these  creatures are  hard to find Like
this one chewing upside down from under a  milkweed leaf.  The best way I use to find them is.!!!”

“Is what?”
“Hold on, Alan, your next comment may be in bad taste, better warn any readers. “
“good  point.  If  you are sensitive please  do not read any farther.”

“The best way I find  to locate a Monarch  caterpillar is to look for its’ excrement…that is
how I found the little fellow below…excrement in little brown  marbles.”
“Crude, Alan…crude.”
“I Told you not to read  if you are sensitive.”

“See  if  you can find  the Monarch below…bet you cannot.


STORY TWO

“Time to pick the crabapples…right now…”
“Some say wait until the first frost.”
“What if  they fall to the ground?”
“Best to get them now.”

“Alan, crab apple jelly is a lot of work.”
“I risked  my life picking the apples…is that not enough.  High on
a wooden ladder that had  seen better days…while  below  me three
old horse drawn mowers waited  for my flesh to land on their cutter bars.”
“Alan…you over do comments far too often.”
“Take a look … three rusted out mowing machines hungry for
blood  as red as the crabapples.”

“Enough…give me a hand cutting top and bottom, then cutting the little
red apples in half
“What about the worms?”
“Keep  that as  our little secret.”
“Now boil them up…get the sugar ready…may or may not need  pectin.”
“Definitely need bottles…little ones are best.”
“Why?”
“Friends  and enemies want to steal the finished  product…”
“Will hardly  miss a little bottle…but a  big bottle of  crab apple jelly  if  
stolen is a tragedy.”

“I thought this story was  about Monarch Butterfly.”
“Do  you not know the trick …”
“What trick?”
“All writers have a main story and a secondary story going at he same time.”
“Some writers have a whole bunch of  stories going at the same time…”
“Only two stories here…less stress on your metal ability.”

alan sketch
Sept. 2019






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