A butterfly's footprints

How a fritillary confirmed my hunch. Plus, hopeful headlines.

The one who came to me.

I went on a short walkabout last week, searching for answers to age-old questions. I wake every day to the tension between where I am and where I want to be. Who I am and who I want to be. How I’ve defined myself versus how I wish to define myself. Neuroscience has discovered that a simple thing like how we talk to ourselves can determine our future. Neuroplasticity is a fancy way of saying we shouldn’t ever stop trying to grow.

Someone who thinks of themself as “an angry person” is more likely to be that. Someone who defines themself as a “fighter” is likely to fight. Someone who tells themself “I am kind” is more likely to be kind, especially when confronted with a surprising or challenging situation.

This morning, I woke and said to myself, “I am a force for good in this world.”

I’d like to say those words every day for the rest of my life.

Then I stepped outside, and these two butterflies (above and below) were waiting for me. The pictures capture the butterflies’ beauty, but they don’t capture the magical thing that happened next.

The first one, brownish and bigger, lay still on the green succulent with its wings spread. It stayed for so long that I was able to identify it with an app. It’s a Gulf fritillary, which the internet explained was “introduced” to California.

“Well, nice to finally meet you,” I thought.

Then the second arrived, a much brighter orange. It flitted here and there until finally landing on a dried flower, wings folded. I again enjoyed ample time to photograph and identify it as another smaller Gulf fritillary.

What you can’t see is that while I aimed the phone at the second, the first fluttered up and landed on the back of my hand. Now, there were three butterflies all in a row: one in front of the screen, one on the screen, and one on my hand, which clutched the screen.¹

Delicate legs, mini feet padding softly along my freckled skin; wings wide and flat, draped across my hand. How I could feel its footsteps a breath away from my face. I froze in its gaze as its curious antennae scanned the breeze, asking butterfly questions. It stayed and stayed and stayed, its tiny feather feet caressing my hand, brushing across stiff tendons and branching veins. I held my breath, stunned and delighted.

“Hello, hello, hello. Very nice to be introduced after so long.”

And then it was gone.

Sigh.

Many of us have experienced the touch of a baby, the paws of a puppy or kitten, the silk caress of a flower petal in passing, or a small bird that isn’t afraid to perch close by. Now, how about the footprints of a butterfly? I still feel them, like they landed on my heart.

These experiences of trust say to us:

“You are good. You are gentle. You are kind. You are the flower blooming. You are the sun shining. You are the creek trickling. You are every beautiful, powerful thing on Earth.”

You are a force for good in the world.

You are a force for good in the world.

You are a force for good in the world.

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HOPEFUL HEADLINES

CALIFORNIA

KQED: Coyotes are in pupping season in the Bay Area. Here’s how to keep yourself and your dog safe

Coyotes naturally control pests, like rats, mice and gophers, and studies have shown that they also contribute to bird biodiversity by keeping feral cats and other small predator populations in check, Parker-Shames said. Plus, they don’t need much to survive: all they really need is a small burrow or opening to raise their infants, called a “den,” and food, which also comes in the form of human trash. And with few natural predators in populated areas, they can actually thrive.

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United Kingdom

BBC: Island renowned for its seabirds is now ferret-free

GoodNewsNetwork: Volunteers plant ‘mega hedge’ 15 miles across England, connecting wildlife in two national parks

Far more than just a fence or barrier, it’s been shown that hedgerows are vital habitat corridors, even as slim as they are. From mice to hedgehogs, insects and birds, they offer a narrow sanctuary to 2,000 species over the course of a year

Cumbria Crack: Plans to release beavers into wild in West Cumbria take step forward

BBC: Released beavers settle after year of ups and downs

Related, from Science Daily: Beavers are turning rivers into powerful carbon sinks

Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash

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EUROPE

Brussels Times: Forest growth surpasses harvesting in most of EU

Romania Insider: Romania’s rewilded Carpathian forests ranked among world’s top conservation destinations by National Geographic

EcoNews: Ten years after bison were released in Romania, plant biomass in the area increases by 30 percent

Conservation teams report that after a decade of rewilding work in the Tarcu Mountains, vegetation in some areas has increased by around thirty percent, both in volume and in variety. In practical terms, that means more grass, more shrubs, more flowers and a richer mix of habitats in the same landscape.

For scientists and local residents alike, the return of Europe’s largest land mammal is turning into a live demonstration of how bringing animals back can help heal damaged ecosystems.

Related note that includes bison news from around the world:

AUSTRALIA

ABC: Hand-raised baby corals bring hope of restoring Great Barrier Reef

Mongabay: Conservation win as first palm cockatoo chick fledges from artificial hollow in Australia

Palm cockatoo. Photo by Mark Simpson, inaturalist.org.

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ASIA

TTW: Vietnam transforms Mekong Delta with massive wetland

Japan Times: Japanese crane no longer considered ‘threatened’ as population recovers

Once hunted to near extinction, Japanese cranes resident to the island of Hokkaido have recovered from only 30 birds a century ago to more than 1,000 now. Also known as the red-crowned crane, larger migrating populations exist in Russia, China, and Korea.

Japanese crane, also known as a red-crowned crane. Photo by pen_ash on Unsplash

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GLOBAL:

How batteries are transforming grids and allowing solar and wind energy to be used at night (don’t miss the graph showing batteries powering 40% of California’s grid):

Night Into Day

PAID SUBSCRIBERS: Thank you for your support. Check out a few more of my adventures at EYES on BEAUTY. This page contains modest amounts of (almost) weekly bonus content especially for you.

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About Earth Hope

Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories to inspire action. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it. I aggregate news under my “hopeful headlines,” conduct original reporting and interviews, and share occasional personal narratives. Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories. To understand why I write about hope, please read “As I went down in the river to pray …”

Spotted in front of a local house of worship. Read more about MS Merwin here.

1. The size and color difference between the two butterflies did leave the impression I might have stepped in the middle of some flirtation between a male and female.