Process

True confessions: this was a total emergency blip, and this dear sweet moth was so obliging. We were cooking garlic eggplant with pork for dinner, and I remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet. The sun was going down. In between stirs I ran upstairs to get the camera. Then I added a splash of water to keep the eggplant from burning, popped outside and so hoped the wind was low enough to let me find a nice stable flower. Here is the sequence: first I was drawn to the gorgeous pink of these flowers (and how handy that they are right by the back door!); then I found one that had a tiny green larva in the center (oh boy, right up my alley!); and then--jackpot!-- I raised my glance and here is the moth, perfectly still and so absolutely beautiful. Snap snap and run back in to stir the eggplant before it sticks to the wok.

Oh, and dinner was really delicious.