Sunday, Chris Tenney and I drove to Resaca de la Palma State Park to capture photos of some unique butterflies.  Chris is on a quest for a “Big Butterfly Year” in 2015—to identify and photograph as many species of butterflies in the US in 365 days; you may read his on-going efforts in this regard in his blog, http://www.butterflybigyear.net/  His wife passed away 2 years ago in January, and last year he was still in deep mourning.  His specific target on this Sunday was the Gemmed Satyr, and he was able to identify and photograph it before noon.  Additionally, he identified and photographed a White-scrubbed Hairstreak, a life butterfly for him, i.e. the first time he has ever observed one, and allowing him to add two to his “big year”.

As for me, I have been chasing the elusive Mexican Bluewing Butterfly for three seasons, a species I have seen twice, but never photographed.  I was able to see several of these butterflies on Sunday, and capture a decent photograph.  I also saw many Blue Metalmarks, a species I had never seen, and was able to get several photographs of the butterfly, a lifer for me.  We saw over 25 species on an overcast windy day—not too bad!

Coincident with Kay returning from 10 days in Arkansas, this week has been a “coming out” week for me, as the funk I’ve been in since last March 2014 seems to finally be dissipating.  With the new house progressing, and no commitments for the future, it seems like we’ve finally retired, though neither has worked full time for over 10 years.  It seems as if I’ve been going ninety to nothing the entire 10 years, and speeding up even more when Ronnie died, I was diagnosed with cancer, and had the mild heart attack this past summer.  It feels good, actually great, to be cool, calm, and collected again, finally!  I resumed fly tying, the first time tying in the RV since 2009, and the first time tying for fun in several years, I have really enjoyed it.  It sure seems like the older one gets, the more one returns to the things truly enjoyed and loved.  So, I returned to my first love in fly tying—popping bugs and bream flies—readying for a great spring and early summer of fly fishing for bream and bass, a first love in fly fishing.

Overall, the week was quiet, with cold, wet weather predominating—no golf, no dancin’, and bridge only once—resulting in a quiet, indoor week.