Entering Key West’s Butterfly Conservatory (www.keywestbutterfly.com) feels like you’re a character in a cartoon filled with all different sizes and shades of butterflies. It’s a truly surreal experience, and not altogether unfrightening. The dreaded “CRUNCH” on the sidewalk, the swatting of the head (a normal reaction when feeling an insect land) these actions are frowned upon at the butterfly establishment. It’s a great place for children, photographers, and gardeners, who will pick up some tips on plants that attract the cute lil’ buggers.
The gift shop reminded me of Julie Doxtad’s kitchen, which is adorned with framed pinned butterflies that I’ve always guiltily admired. The mandatory sophomore bug collection continues to haunt me, with images of Wade Bagenstos’s bugs crawling off the straightening board with the pins thrust through their thin little wings. But then I encountered the most spectacular moth, and learned that it only lives for three days, because it emerges from its cocoon without a mouth. So essentially, it has three days to exhibit its glory before it succumbs to starvation. It makes me wonder whether or not I would trade places with such an insect, in order to be that amazingly beautiful for three entire days, which seems like a short time to us, but is a lifetime to a moth.
Entering Key West’s Butterfly Conservatory (www.keywestbutterfly.com) feels like you’re a character in a cartoon filled with all different sizes and shades of butterflies. It’s a truly surreal experience, and not altogether unfrightening. The dreaded “CRUNCH” on the sidewalk, the swatting of the head (a normal reaction when feeling an insect land) these actions are frowned upon at the butterfly establishment. It’s a great place for children, photographers, and gardeners, who will pick up some tips on plants that attract the cute lil’ buggers.
The gift shop reminded me of Julie Doxtad’s kitchen, which is adorned with framed pinned butterflies that I’ve always guiltily admired. The mandatory sophomore bug collection continues to haunt me, with images of Wade Bagenstos’s bugs crawling off the straightening board with the pins thrust through their thin little wings. But then I encountered the most spectacular moth, and learned that it only lives for three days, because it emerges from its cocoon without a mouth. So essentially, it has three days to exhibit its glory before it succumbs to starvation. It makes me wonder whether or not I would trade places with such an insect, in order to be that amazingly beautiful for three entire days, which seems like a short time to us, but is a lifetime to a moth.
