Gaia: Gaia Networking~Enhance your Community Experience - Featured Members - November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:58:54 GMT

I want to thank everyone for posting on this thread for Deb!!!

It has been a beautiful month of global change while learning more about Deb and her adventures on Gaia I now pass the moderator torch to Amber for the month of December's feature. Gaia Networking is here to help on Gaia. Become a part of the change. Many thanks, ~kes

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://joy-within.gaia.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:46:04 GMT

I'd like to add my thanks for this month's sharing...I've learned so much and been so inspired by all the posts and especially by Deb's nature observations. Deb, it's been a joyful gathering here in November...have a wonderful trip in December.

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:26:44 GMT

Thank you
Deb for your amazing posts on this thread, honoring your space as a featured member;
and ~KES for the picturesque way you helped this to flow this month,
and all the community members who have visited this remarkable thread, much like the birds and bees mentioned here, shared in words and feelings. And sometimes in silence.

Each of you has put aside time from your busy schedules, to share online and perhaps even take this out into the mountain! [wonderful, C.G.!]

To me it shows how beautifully our lives can flow into different aspects of sharing.

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://organics.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:07:59 GMT

Deb,

You have been a pure delight to read this month. You are a naturalist from the word GO and set such a great example of a humanitarian. I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts and blogs telling us about your life story. You are truly blessed and I wish you and your family and friends continued stories of life in Missouri and your travels. This has been such a treat for all of us. I will be in touch on your blogs too!

Kindest regards,
Lee

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://dragonsbeard.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:51:04 GMT

I hope you and your dear family had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Deb.

Coincidence or inspiration, I do not know, but I have been up the mountain (6 or so hrs) in each of the last two weekends. My suspicion is that it has something to do with your sharing of the beautiful nature around you home.
Thank you, dear one.

love and many blessings this winter,
CG

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:32:56 GMT

Deb, to you gal warm hugs!

And we're

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:54:20 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I want to personally thank each and every one on this pod for reading and posting this month. Today is our last day of posting before our new Feature Member is introduced. It has been a pleasure working with all of you and I loved working closely as a mod of this network with Deb... learning about the natural way of life filled with true spirit.

I especially want to thank our guest writer and humanitarian... Deb:

Couldn't resist Deb... I had to do at least one more graphic for you.

Much love to you and your wonderful family, ~KES

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://ADLIAC.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:50:46 GMT

I'll toss my thanks in here, Deb and Kathy, for the most wondrous journey together this month, inward, outward, and sideways !!!! You certainly must be one of the most grounded spiritually - active folks I know, Deb, and have allowed us to more appreciate the Great Spirit that abides in and AS the mice, and the butterflies, and the mushrooms, and whatever. Some folks may think some of these topics were "not spiritual," but I think they all were. The trick is to enjoy all the range of experiences we are capable of, the whole spectrum of Spirit, and you have delightfully expanded our capacity for that.

And I'm extra-glad you had a good time, too !!!!!!!!!!

My heart thanks you for your deep and wonderful sharings, and Kathy for her devoted energy, activity, and attention, and creativity, in adding dimensions to the printed words, and shepherding the flow of this thread. And I deeply appreciate everyone who participated in this journey here together, for the greater good of everyone involved !

So we leave Deb's Month, enriched and more deeply in knowing of one another, on to our next adventures together !!

Blessings, OM Bastet

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:15:48 GMT

Well, it has come to this. A whole month has passed and I survived - rather well actually. I want to thank Meenakshi, Amber, OM and ~KES [Kathy] for making the opportunity available.

It was nothing like anything I expected. Fears that it would become a "roast" were just that, "fear" (though an energetic blow back from Dave's month, would have been understood, as I having brought it upon myself). ;-p Thanks Dave.

It was a better experience than I ever dreamed, and I owe much of that to ~KES, and her instincts in "handling" me. Truly, it was a co-collaborative effort, where we seemed to feed off the positive energy of one another, in the most pleasurable pursuit, of making this as meaningful and entertaining for the reader, as possible. All the pictures and fun graphics are thanks to ~KES and she worked tirelessly to provide plenty of visual stimulation to make the stories more interesting. To her, I owe the inspiration to showcase the rural wilderness in which I live. I was blessed in return, because as I researched topics I only knew in the most vague way, based on direct experience, I learned so very much and, now have a richer background in my own specific, natural world. I realize now, that I am the naturalist that I wanted to be, which I did put on my Zaadz profile, as my goal when I joined, the community which is now Gaia.

I have lived in Missouri, now longer than I have ever lived anywhere else, and I have lived in this one-room cabin of a farmhouse longer than I have lived in any other home. I truly owe this stability to my marriage and my husband, who is so grounded and rooted here, having chose this place for himself, after much looking around the state. Our privacy and isolation are deliberate and so, I have not brought up a lot about him or our business, as I feel those to be a bit off limits. I do mention my business life in my profile page, if anyone is so interested enough to go and read there. The business keeps me more than busy, that and having the children around 24/7, as we home/school them for life. Truly Gaia is my own special, personal time place. Beyond my daily hikes, the only other thing I can truly call my very own.

I did tell my 35 yr old daughter about this feature, and she indicated to me earlier in the month, that she had visited but didn't know how to post. I told her how but I know she is busy. Besides my daughter and my 2 boys, I have 2 beautiful grandchildren, a boy 10 and a girl 5, thanks to her. I told my parents about this thread as well but they have not commented back to me and so, I do not know if they ever visited the thread here or if they find they hardly know me, having visited it. LOL or expected either way. I haven't seen my daughter or my parents in a couple of years. I thought I would be going there, by the middle of this month of Nov but our trip keeps getting pushed back.

The impetus of the trip is to take my MIL (who is an amateur ornithologist and does backyard bird counts for Cornell) to see the Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge, where Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Ducks and other migrating birds overwinter. It is only a short distance up I-25 from my parent's home in Elephant Butte, NM. For awhile, I thought we would board a train during my month here as Featured Member. The original plan was to fly my MIL to NM and meet her there. Having missed her plane recently at La Guardia (coming home from a visit with my BIL and SIL), she didn't want to get back on another. She suggested a bus and I said no way would she take a bus alone. Then, undaunted, she suggested a train.

My husband has claimed for a couple of years that he wanted to take the kids on an overnight train. I even made reservations at his suggestion but he backed out on me. The desire and the reality conflict. He likes to drive the back roads and stop at whatever catches his attention. He doesn't like conforming - period - and that includes pre-set schedules.

In NM, we'll probably go see the Very Large Array - VLA - the one that was featured in the Jodie Foster movie Contact and play in the sands at White Sands National Monument. We'll eat Mexican food at the 100 yr old + La Hacienda in Old Town Albuquerque or at the similarly old La Posta in old Mesilla (a childhood favorite) in my birth place ofLas Cruces, NM. As it appears now, it may be the middle of December, before we leave and that we will drive. We'll go through Dallas and I'll get to see my daughter and grandchildren (which I would have missed had we taken the train). We may be gone over Christmas. We've been known to stay gone 6 weeks at a time. When we turn towards home, the resistance kicks in, not wanting the journey to end, and we go slower the closer we get. We understand that the journey is the destination. Yet, we are always glad to be back home and not to worry, our laptop goes with us and wireless connections are in most hotels, so I'll be able to check in w/Gaia but may not be able to be as active.

I wish to thank each and every one of you who came to visit - to say Hi to me - or even to read. Especially, I am moved by each of you who hung with all this writing of mine and seemed to enjoy it, who let me know you cared enough to keep up with the thread (more or less, if the later, you certainly can be forgiven, time is the great limiter for many of us).

My heartfelt thanks to the Great Spirit, the All That Is, who was determined for me to be here for this most remarkable of months. Always I go where you do lead me, and always I am grateful, when I am quick enough to act upon your call and not miss it. Thank you for a most memorable experience.

Deborah

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://environsand.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:35:56 GMT

Yes, it has been an enjoyable month , thankyou very much
Deb -you have given us all a lot of pleasure as Featured Member!

See ya 'round the boards -
peace and love,

Sandy

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:38:45 GMT

Yay Deb! I hope your month was an enjoyable one! I've been keeping up with this thread as much as I can, but I still have a lot of catching up to do. It's quite the whopper. =P Reading all this has really helped get me back in touch with my natural side and restarted my drive to move somewhere peaceful, natural. I want to thank you Deb, KES, and everyone else who supports this pod for helping bring a special part of Gaia here to Gaia. :D

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:07:55 GMT

All good things come to an end they say and so it is with a life or with a month as the Featured Member.

Deborah No, I'm not saying good bye just yet. I'll put that off until tomorrow. We used to have a license plate that we remembered with DAP for Debbie Always Procrastinates and 817 for my grown daughter's birth date.

So, I will stay true to form and put it off a bit, and tell you instead about Death and it's impacts on me, in the last year or so and in doing so, share some of the customs that we use in the country to acknowledge the death of someone, not knowing whether they vary from where you are.

The first death of note was our county historian. He was so much the acknowledged historian, that he remained President of our local historical society until his death, which is all of the 20 years I have been here, even when challenged for the position. He was the first person my husband took me to meet when I moved here. Because of him, we went on many adventures, for he and my husband were alike that way at heart. We put together a book of county topography maps and the old man would tell us of some out of the way place and we would go and find it. Because of him, we belonged to the historical society (I was on the board until my children and the business made that too difficult) and while active there (having children put an end to us attending meetings, at least for the time being), we personally took to heart getting re-published some out of print, historical, local and regional, books written by a man, Henry C Thompson, in the 1930s. This entailed locating his son in California and getting permission and then, finding an entreprenuerial publisher, who took to heart our desire to be true to the simple style they originally were printed in, and printing them as exactly as possible, as they were originally.

About a month and a half before my FIL died, this prominent (not wealthy, but well known) community member died. I took my in-laws to the wake and my husband and children went in a separate car. We almost could not get my FIL in the door. He had already told his care-givers that he was going to die in November and they had told us that he had been talking like that. It was almost like The Christmas Carol when Ebenezer Scrooge must face the Ghost of Christmas Future and his own death. It was as though my FIL did not want to face the reality of his wish for himself and so, the funeral home director had to pull him into the building, as he stood there unmoving, blocking the doorway.

In our county, it is common to have an open casket wake, which is called a visitation here. We usually go to these to pay our respects to the family and not to the actual funeral services. The visitation for this man was actually funny and unique. One of his daughters, who we know well, was quite close to him and so designed the viewing, as she understood her father would have done. Examples of the irreverent way this was accomplished are, the slogan T-Shirts - they had hanging along the open edge of the casket. My two favorite examples were "I'm out of my mind, Leave a message." and "Keep starring, I may do a trick". They had him laid out with an open book lying on his chest and glasses on his face, as though he had just fallen asleep while reading. The title of the book was "Whatever it is, I'm against it". They also had a quote from Churchill "I'm ready to meet my maker but I'm not sure my maker is ready to meet me". The daughter told me that some people had told her it was tacky but I assured her that her "dad just loved it" (and I do mean here that he was aware of, and in effect, through the heart guiding her), that "it was perfect". She gave me a hug and thanked me. I felt so uplifted and happy having gone to this visitation, that I was smiling and upbeat all the way home. I was so at peace, certain that all was really as it should be, and so happy that such an occasion could be so much fun.

This very unique man had made a calling card, in business card form, a couple of years earlier (around the time he turned 80), that reads in part (they were given these out to visitors at his wake) -

John Paul Skaggs • Antagonist - Protaganist • Revolutions Started • Political Wars Fought • Governments Monitored • Curmudgeon • Historical Guru • Eccentric Special Interests included Bovine Scatology • Coprolithology, • Paleomagnetism, etc.

They also handed out a little poem that was written by a young relative, who was assisted by her teacher in writing this, after interviewing the man. It ends with words so very like the man's personality

"Who would like to see the Grand Canyon, a cure for cancer and the end of terrorism, Who lives in Madison County - which is God's country - cause only us and Him would want it."

His daughter told me that they planned to put a picture of the Grand Canyon into his casket before burying him because he had never been there.

The next death I experienced was my FILs. I became a spiritual midwife for him. The family is Unitarian and of the Humanist bent and not at all religious or spiritual, at least not consciously so. I have written much about it in my Living Metaphysics pod (a thread that is still not finished, as part of my experience of my FILs dying process went right along with an excellent book, that I would recommend to anyone - Neale Donald Walsch's Home with God - Conversations in a Life that Never Ends). OM thought so much of this thread, that she has it ensconced in her Collective Wisdom pod. for anyone who cares to read more of the real time details.

~little local family cemetery~

I will say here only that, my FILs dying process, was one of the most profound experiences of my entire life. Never before had I witnessed, so intimately, a definite decision to allow and accept death, as a release from a body that no longer functioned well. His approach to death was ambivalent, he would by turns yearn for it and be fearful about it. Less than 24 hours before, I detected a shift within his bedroom, a radiant sense of peace and knew the end was near. The morning of his death was joyful and glorious and memorable. Unlike the usual local celebrations, the days following his death were anti-climatic.

There was no wake, no service, no burial - these were his stated wishes. His body was donated to Washington University of St Louis's medical school for whatever clues it could yield into the brain tumor that had plagued him the last 3 years of his life. My boys climbed into the tree, in the little herb garden off the front deck, and bye-byed their Grandpa; as my husband and I stood arm-in-arm watching the Suburban carry him up the drive and away from us.

Friends and family came to visit in the home and sometimes, those visits intruded upon our dinner time or business day and I could understand the wisdom of limiting such by having the public event. I was aware of my FILs presence in the home, during the week following his death and was a bit surprised to discover, thanks to my older son (who is his great-great grandfather's namesake) that my FILs grandfather had come for him too, and I told my FIL of that realization, in that connection in mind that I had accomplished in the weeks before his death.

The last death I will talk about is our neighbor's brother, a member of the pioneer family who settled our valley 200 years ago. In January, he was doing work on the farm nearby, that belongs to our accountant. This man was about the same age as my husband. He had gotten out of the large tractor with a cab and was doing something on the ground, when the tractor began to roll down the hill. Without thinking twice, he chased after the tractor, managed to get one foot up on the step and a hand on the door handle but the large rear wheel caught his leg and pulled him under, crushing his heart. Death was instantaneous. His wife's only good bye was as he went out the door to work that day.

The funeral home said that was the largest crowd, they had accommodated, to date. One of his daughters (both of whom we know well) said he never met a stranger and that was probably true. Our accountant was obviously in shock over the event and just kept saying "I wish he would have just let the tractor go". Of course, the man had no idea it would take his life, he was just doing his job. As usual, the wake was a celebration of his life and his interests. Not as quirky or funny as the first story I told. As always here, it was an open casket and viewing. A ritual that my FIL commented upon, with the first story I told, that he found "odd".

He was buried in the little local family cemetery. I call it that because it is just up the road from our home. When someone is buried there, that we know, we make the 5 min walk up to the cemetery to attend the graveside services. With this one, I was able to have a private word with each family member. The daughter, who was distraught the night before, realized that it was after all "perfect", just as her dad would have wanted. The day before, when I was out hiking, I had connected in mind with the deceased man and he spoke to me in my heart of how he loved this place. When I sat to speak with his widow, I was moved to share with her that and that it was a beautiful place (the cemetery) where she could visit him and connect with his spirit. She looked at me startled. I have wondered ever since, if I should have uttered such to her but perhaps in the fog of grief, she remembers it not now. We stayed on, after the family had left to have a post-service meal, with one of the second-cousins to make sure that the casket was truly buried (there seems to be some suspicion of the burial folks, whether warranted or not, or whether simply a hold-over from times past). We left to come home, after they had driven away. My children enjoyed watching the backhoe do its work.

Well, I guess I've procrastinated all I can and that the next time I write, it will have to be the final time for this thread. It is the death of all this attention focused upon me and the end of a cycle. All things in nature have a cycle, and we should be glad that all good things come to an end, for if they did not, I suspect, we would appreciate them much less.

Deb

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:06:56 GMT

Amber,

Yes, there is some distance but I do see the Kitties lurking about the Mouseville area from time to time.

Deb

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://ambersbug.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:02:17 GMT

Awwww! The mouse tales were great! It's good that the mice are located at Mouseville so they're far away from the Kitty Condos!

Smiles!
amber

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:12:13 GMT

Deb ~ I had so much fun looking up all of these butterflies and flowers of Missouri and putting them into your essay. I look forward to the next two days for more beauty of nature that is all around you in Missouri. And I look forward to the new picture of the boys that will be posted soon!

You have brought us on such a wonderful journey and it couldn't have happened at a more beautiful time of year. The other day I was walking back to my studio when a leaf literally fell on me..It was a brief reminder of the autumnal equinox. It was a good metaphor for my life right now. Sometimes a leaf isn't just a leaf. I took it as a change to complete things this week that are due so, to organize things here but also learn of your coming winter in Missouri.

Siona presented a Q&R on Autumn

and came up with the beauty of this from

all around the world--68 responses on Gaia.

It has been so wonderful to be with you working on this.

Thanks,

~Kathy

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:28:38 GMT

I spent my hiking time last summer trying to identify a Diana Butterfly on our property. The Diana is named for the Roman goddess of woodlands. I had read in the Naturalist At Large article by Gary Noel Ross in the March 2008 issue of Natural History magazine, about the Diana butterflies. So, I wrote the magazine that "I live in SE Missouri and that Missouri has NOT lost their contingent of Diana butterflies. We live in forested wild acres that include the favorite flower foods of the Diana's - the

the

and

I have definitely seen many of the female Blue Diana's on our property throughout summer. I did not know until I read this article that the butterflies are endangered, that males were a different color (Black with Orange fringe) nor that the male life span was much shorter. I'll definitely be looking for male Diana's this summer."

Mr Ross wrote me back saying "When I prepared the article I could find no recent records of Dianas in Missouri, and so I (as well as other lepidopterists) have considered the species to be extinct in Missouri. And so, your sightings are good news! Although I don't wish to seem pedantic, I must ask: Are you sure that the butterflies that you have observed each summer are not of a very similar species, namely the Red-spotted Purple? These butterflies are similar in color and size to female Dianas, and so are very frequently confused with Dianas--especially if the individuals are on the wing, or if at rest, if the observe is some distance away. Red-spotted Purples are very common in forested regions of your area. If you have a digital camera, would you be open to snapping a photo of a resting female this summer and forwarding the photo to me? This would allow scientists to fully document the continued presence of the species in your state. Of course, now that you know what the male looks like, you could also try to get a photo of it, too."

Later he added, "Another possibility I didn't mention: There are several other butterflies in your region that are blue and black: Pipe-Vine Swallowtail, female Spicebush Swallowtail, female dark phase of the Tiger Swallowtail. All are common but all have short protrusions (tails) from their hind wings. The critical thing about the female Diana is the several rows of prominent blue dots on the FOREWINGS; Red-spotted Purples do not have any of these--just faint marginal dashes. Check out these species in your field guide (or whatever source you are using). Another question: Did you mention that you recall seeing these black and blue butterflies EACH year? Can you remember in which months?

The author, who I was communicating with, was Gary Ross (a research associate at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the U of FL - Gainesville and director of butterfly festivals for the No American Butterfly Assoc). You would think he would know his subject. The Diana butterfly was named in 1775 from specimens in Jamestown, VA. The species was historically common throughout the temperate deciduous forest of the southern Appalachian Mountains and westward to the Ozark-Quachita Mountains of the midwest (where I live).

It is believed that the Diana once had a continuous range but in an "expert" book published in 1984, of the 4 separate known populations, it was believed 2 of those had already disappeared - one group in the Ohio River drainage from extreme western PA to IL (disappearing in the 1800s). The other group that was gone was the original southeastern Virginia (including the Jamestown VA of its naming) which had been gone since the 1950s. What was left in 1984 was a population in the So Appalachians from central VA & W VA southwestward into the mountains of GA and AL. The 4th population was in the Ozark Mountains of AR and my state of Missouri.

The author of the article I read, Gary Ross, believed that Missouri had lost its Dianas. I did contact him thanks to the magazine and we began writing one another. I was hopeful because we have the perfect environment with forest, the Orange Butterfly Bush the male favors and the Purple Coneflower (Echinecea) and Thistles (that Eyore, of Winnie the Pooh fame, likes as well) that the female likes - oh, yeah and Violets in the spring for the larvae to munch upon.

When my older son was a baby, I made up a Butterfly Song for him that included what I thought must be the Diana (though I had not heard of a Diana at the time I composed the song). And it was only thanks to reading the article that I discovered how rare Diana's are.

The song I composed went like this -

There are Black Butterflies with Blue on their Wings

(deb's notes, what I hoped would be the Diana),

Some Butterflies are Orange with White Spots

(the Monarch, which we do have)

Other Butterflies are Yellow and Black (Swallowtail),

Sometimes there's one, other times there's lots.

Butterflies like to drink at the flowers,

Sometimes they stay there for hours and hours.

I like Butterflies because they're free,

Butterflies are Free just like Me."

The Butterfly was a theme for my son's 2nd birthday and we still have the Butterfly mobile I created for the occasion.

Mr Ross wrote me again in March "I have been looking over the published records of Dianas in Missouri. The last published record is from Barry Co. in 1994. However, in a letter dated March 1968, an observer mentioned records from Iron Co., Tom Sauk Mt. (no dates were given). So, there is every reason to believe that your area, just east of Tom Sauk Mt., is still harboring a viable population. Since you are in a nat. for., your area is stable and that is exactly what Dianas need to complete their lengthy life cycle. So, I will keep my fingers crossed. Start searching the orange butterfly weed just as soon as it starts blooming in June. Males should be drawn to it as if to a magnet. If you identify males, perhaps I can drive up and we can launch a full scale project to determine the size of the population. I have already begun a new folder labeled "Dianas in Missouri."

The weather was wrong this spring and threw the timing of the Butterfly Bush's blooming off and so, I was losing heart at finding a male. Their time is so brief. I wrote Mr Ross in early June "My mother-in-law gave me a great book for my birthday recently -

Butterflies and Moths of Missouri

by J Richard & Joan E Heitzman. It has gorgeous large pictures and focuses only on the species in my state. I am appreciating that learning the butterflies is much more complex than learning a few frog and toad breeding calls. The book includes color illustrations and text for all butterflies for which there seem to be valid records. Even such a comprehensive book could only include about 1 in 20 of the moths found in our state. The book mentions that several species new to science have been found recently in Missouri.

I got excited this morning when I saw an Orange Butterfly along with a couple of Black & Blue. And a hour or so later, I just saw 2 of the Orange chasing one another. In the sunlight, one appears to have darker brown at the inner parts of the wing, than the one I saw earlier this morning. There are Black & Blue ones flitting about as well. They are all so restless and moving it is hard to really get a good look. I'll keep observing and watching. I saw a couple of Black & Blue in the deep woods the other day.

My enthusiasm has been tempered as I gain understanding about how similar some are, one to the other. At first, I thought the markings on my Orange Butterfly (digital photo attached) were promising but my husband pointed out, and I agree, that it is more likely a Great Spangled Fritillary due to the lighter body color and the lighter inner color - both seem not as dark as the Diana photo in our book (specimens of which came from Virginia). I am lucky the butterfly sat still so long, long enough to run in and get the camera, long enough to creep close enough to get good focus - still I'm not the best photographer.

Please let me know if we were correct in our identification. I think we are. I despair that we don't have Dianas but won't give up, as the habitat is good here.

We planted a bird, butterfly and bee garden at a small creek crossing and attached a butterfly house on a nearby small tree. It is my understanding that we should put bark inside in the fall, so that adults can over winter. Do they really use these things? Or are they just a feel-good thing? Are there better and worse locations to place them? Ours is facing south but is somewhat exposed to weather and could be placed in a more sheltered location.

He wrote me back "Thanks for the message and the field work to look for Dianas. Your photo is nice but is, as you said, that of a Great Spangled Fritillary, the Diana's closest relative. I am glad you have the Heitzman book as it has good photos of both the male and female Diana.

Specimens from Virginia look the same as those from the Midwest and so use the photos as your guide (also, the photos in my article should work well, too). If you use these photos, when and if you do see Dianas, I think you will immediately know that you are correct since the butterflies are so distinctive. Now is the time when the males are emerging, so be diligent. As I mentioned earlier, the butterflies are addicted to the flowers of butterfly milkweed and that is where you should concentrate your observations.

No, the butterfly "houses" really don't work. For decades not a single butterfly has been recorded as over wintering in one of these "houses." However, other critters DO use them and so I suggest you keep yours. A south-facing opening in a protected, shadowed area works best."

Sadly, I never did identify a Diana throughout the whole summer, though I chased after them often, but my son found a fuzzy caterpillar who he named ) because he would run so fast. I didn't realize there were any butterfly larvae photos in my book but there are a few. The caterpillar to the best of my memory) did look a lot like the one that becomes a Diana. And of course, after looking at him, we did release him in a safe place. I saw lots of

Swallowtails but very few

Monarchs this year. I hope it was just because I was so focused on Dianas and not because we are losing those too.

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://ResurrectedOne.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:59:40 GMT

LOL!
I enjoyed the mouse and cat tails...I mean tales, Deborah! How caring of you to give them a heating pad and take them to alternative homes! Love You!

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:44:07 GMT

I told ~KES I ought to write a bit about Mouseville. I had had a bit of conversation not long ago with Siona about "live and let live". When I tried to compare a troublesome person at Gaia to a mouse or wasp, she didn't quite get my comparison.

Deb's hornet's nest

I never kill Wasps. I don't tolerate them in my house however; but still, always relocate them by trapping them in a cup and covering the openning with a stiff piece of paper, then releasing them out doors. I can't say I'm as good about the ticks or mosquitos. It's harder to re-locate them and there is the concern regarding disease. My husband once got a really nasty illness called Erlichiosis from a tick bite.

There's a whole community of Mice who live across the little concrete bridge over the creek, thanks to my efforts. I won't allow them to live freely in my home either. They have a really nice place to live out near the bridge. There's an old slab of concrete that was leftover, just poured over the ground when they made that bridge (rumored to be reinforced with an old bed spring). The periodic floods have washed out space underneath the slab and I imagine a whole network of tunnels, with little homes snug and warm inside and burrowed upward into the hillside, so when the creek does rise, it doesn't get in there and they can just ride it out.

In the fall, we always had a lot of trouble with Field Mice coming into the old farmhouse we live in. They can't be blamed really, cold weather is coming and what better than a warm place with plenty of food scraps here and there, even if it's the cat's food. I used to set live traps in the cabinet with nice nuts, Pecans from my Texas Granny's tree worked well, to nourish them until I could relocate them, if they made it upstairs from the basement.

Not that my little cat Ermina wasn't a good mouser. I remember one night when I was awaken at least 3 or 4 different times, by my cat chasing a mouse (3 or 4 different ones) through the house. I can't sleep for knowing they might go scurrying across my bed. So, I would get up and get a cup and stiff piece of paper and chase the mouse along with the cat and try to trap it for release out of doors. We call those adventures................ Mousecapades.

Many were the mornings, I would awaken to a mouse caught in the live trap, scratching and gnawing to get out. Often I got up, still in darkness to walk it across the bridge and release it in Mouseville. Sometimes, I carried my older boy, then a infant, along with me. It never seemed to make sense to me to kill them, there are so many, I can't make a dent in the population.

Sadly, when we brought our business samples back "in house" from a contractor who had to quit doing it for us, and the mice were getting into our supply, my husband gave in to the baits offered at the farm supply store. I don't see mice any more and yet, I can't say I really miss them either. It bothers me a bit to think they are being poisoned but I never see their bodies, they go away somewhere to die. I see my outdoor cats on occasion, hunting across the bridge in Mouseville and so, I assume the community lives on.

In fact, one can't talk about Mice without talking a bit about cats (it is similar with dogs and we've both had them in our lives, but we're now committed to the ease of care, due to the independence of cats. My husband had 2 old ones when I came to live here. I brought 2 of my own (one of which did not last long in the country). My husband's oldest cat Biddy once stole away in a little straight truck we bought for delivering furniture (my husband's business when I met him). She ended up visiting Washington DC with us, where we took her picture near a flock of pigeons with the Capitol behind her, then New York City and my BILs apartment, and finally Detroit for a trade show we attended before returning home totally unaffected. She died of heart failure on our porch and I was grateful to know her outcome, when it came.

The other old cat my husband had was named Houligan and he died of distemper I think. My old cat (that survived the move) lasted long because he was wary. He was a great hunter and very gentle (a British Blue given to me by a friend in the city, who I'd named Neeto). Cats are easy to come by in the country. People dump them at the end of our road all the time. We found my indoor cat (now about 17 yrs old) on the shoulder of our state highway. My husband saw her eyes in our headlights. We turned around and went back. She blew me away, when she leapt into my arms, rather than running away.

My old male cat was very protective of the new young female, who I named Ermina, as she is black with a white tip on her tail (the mirror opposite of an Ermine). One morning, Neeto didn't come home. He was getting old and stiff and sometimes incontinent. My husband put him out once for that last bit. Then, 3 days later, searched and searched everywhere for him. Troubled, I asked for a dream. My cat was walking down the road, singing the blues. He didn't see the 2 dogs (could have been Coyotes, they were large in my dream but it was from my cat's perspective). My cat, Neeto the Hunter, knew it was over. It would do no good to run. I woke up. I didn't want to see more but felt my question had been answered.

We briefly had a second Houligan that we named Hoo Too. They were both orange cats and greatly resembled one another. We were down to the one cat, Ermina, for quite a while. Then, just before my older son's 6th birthday, an orange cat of about 6 mos age showed up and my son named him Kito. It was still cold in February and so we spiffed up the old "kitty condo's" and turned back on the heat. We have these 2 sections of hollow log, filled with straw and a soft rug. We put a heating pad on low in there and a flap to hold the heat in. It's elevated off the ground on an old barrel for safety (though Possums have run more than one cat out of them during winter). Still, they work pretty well for the out door cats.

I told my son, I thought Kito was the reincarnation of the other orange cats we had had. A couple of months after the first orange cat, another one showed up, who was perhaps 8 mos old. I didn't really want another and kept running him off (once I realized there actually were 2 of them). One day, he stood off a ways and I felt his thoughts asking me "what do you have against me?". That did it. I didn't have anything against him and started feeding him. My son named him Zeuso. Afterall, if Kito didn't mind him, why should I? Now, they often double up in one condo for extra warmth on cold nights. When we go for family hikes, day or night, they go along with us.

Well, I guess it's time for bed but first, I should feed the outdoor cats some dinner. I always wait late enough that the Possum or Raccoon that comes by looking for a handout gets the morning's leftovers . . .

~ Deb ~

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://environsand.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:19:02 GMT

I like that idea-jeepdog-
merely chiming in to leave your footprint!
I agree with your sentiments and having nothing to
add-I too can just "leave my footprint"!

Thankyou so much Deb and everyone..

Re: November's Featured Member - Writer/Humanitarian Deborah

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:16:00 GMT