Fleeting

Max the stink dog got his bath today and while I was sitting outside enjoying the perfectly beautiful weather as I brushed out his tangles, the hubby noted a butterfly in the rose bush. Being nearsighted I really couldn't see it, but I did have the presence of mind to toss Max into his lap and run to get the camera.

The butterfly flew away just as I focused but luckily for me it lit upon my lavender butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) for a taste of the sticky nectar.

On a very sad note, I received shocking news yesterday about a fellow Solstice owner who passed away two days after our North Carolina meet. I'm somewhat in a stupor about it; I had thoroughly enjoyed his company during our time in Asheville and his death was so very sudden. He sat next to me on Saturday night and won a first place award for a mural that he had painted under his hood. It was of an eagle that dropped down in front of his car to grab his prey and he had snapped a picture of it. His exhuberance upon telling the story matched my own as I told him about the time the hawk dropped in front of my car to snatch the squirrel. I felt a kindred spirit in him and liked him immediately.

My prayers go out for his family and loved ones and for his friends and co workers who loved him.