Friend Or Family, Past Or Present...

       Have you ever been scrutinized by a moth, butterfly, cricket, lizard, or any other member of nature, to a point that you think the bug or insect is trying to signal you?  I'm not a loon, but there have been a few occasions where I have questioned science and nature because of being 'flagged down' by something in the wild.

       One such instance involves the moth (or butterfly, as the case may be) pictured above.  I'm not certain, I will have to review pictures, but this winged inquisitor looks very similar to one I had met when I lived in northwest Arkansas.  I would hope that the markings on each would be different, as is the footprint of each snowflake.  If the markings on both pictures match, I may become suspicious.  Seeing the same moth in two different states, a few hundred miles away?  Not likely.  In my rational mind, I conclude the only way to see the same insect twice in two different states is if it stowed away in transit from the move here.  Still unlikely due to it being winter time at the time of move, and bitterly cold.  The iguana almost froze to death, and the sugar glider died days later from complications from the move. Thank you again, U-Haul, you suck; the worst customer service ever.  

       Still, I wonder if the butterfly may know me and has an important message for me. 

       "Do you know me?  Are you a family member trying to contact me?  Am I a friend to you?" I call out cautiously to the creature.

       No answer.  Just that blank look of checkerboard bug eyes staring you down.  I decided this wasn't going to be easy.  I could have built an elaborate contraption such as the one in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with all the lights and noises, but I could tell this moth was too cool for that.

       Rewind to one day prior:  I was under the hood of my '73 El Camino preparing the old, 350 V8 motor for removal so that I can put the beastly big block 454 in it.  During my progress, this butterfly lands on my fender and begins to gander at my work.  I bid the flying thing hello, and go about my wrench-turning, not thinking about it.  He or she sat there for about five minutes, before it took flight and did a loop-de-loop, then landing on the Quadrajet carburetor.  Once again, eyeballing me like he's the president of the peanut gallery or something.  Is this guy sniffing gas fumes?  Is he some kind of nut or looky-loo?  As I pondered these questions the butterfly did what he does best, and flew off.  I returned to my greasy endeavor under the hood, and thoughts of horsepower replaced ones of the moth.

         The next morning, we were sitting at the patio, enjoying coffee and the tropical sounds of the birds in the woods, giving their morning reports.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the moth land on an eye-level branch to my left.  I am not certain this is the insect from the day before, but it acted vaguely familiar with me, so I assumed it to be the same one.  This time, I got my phone and snapped several pictures of it.  I learned that the winged friend was looking for water from the way it was probing the valleys in the wrinkle-lines of our hands.  I would drip a few drops of water from the surface of the cold Dr. Pepper can, and the moth would dab its snorkel-tongue into the puddle until it was all vacuumed up. 

       This may have been the intent of this little alien all along, simply to retrieve water, but I still think it may have been a family member trying to contact me from the other side, or perhaps one of my guardian angels with some lottery numbers to play.  It was just a bit odd to have this small forest creature land on you and inspect you, seeming to want to communicate.  I dunno. We'll see the next time I see one of these. Now; to find that picture for comparison...