Who would have thought the desert could be this lovely?

When most people think "desert", they think of barren moonscapes with nary a living thing in sight. Those of us hikers in the southwest know far differently.

(Pictured is the lower Catalina Mountains taken from Soldier Canyon, about 10 miles northeast of Tucson, AZ, on Wednesday April 21, 2010.)

To my favorite butterfly

The spectacular and highly rare Ursine Giant-Skipper (Megathymus ursus) is found in scattered desert mountain ranges in Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. Its environment is physically taxing in the extreme, and without a lot of scouting, foreplanning, experience, and persistence, it is very unlikely that you will find any--but when you do, it's an experience you will never forget.

I have dedicated this to this most majestic of insects.

The sun cracks from the east near the border
Six a.m. and it's ninety degrees
Not a whit of sleep has been in order
Nothing else matters--God, give me one, please!

So unique and so absolute
No other butterfly even approaches
Her form, shape, strength, clarity, brilliance
Zipping away forever as the collector encroaches
Discouraging all but the most resolute.

Searching for pupae of the One
Is the only way that it can be done.
Tirelessly seeking her on the desert floor
My heart in her hand, the key to my door.

Assailed on all sides by the hot June air
It's 110--and I don't care.
I'm lovesick and I don't want the cure
For a butterfly so marvelous, so innocent, so pure.

(The photo is of a freshly-hatched female Ursine Giant-Skipper taken by biologist Steve Prchal in southeastern Arizona.)

Tuesday Hiking

This past Tuesday (4/20/10), I hiked at a few places east of Tucson. From top to bottom, the photos are of two different views of Texas Canyon in the Dragoon Mountains (just south of I-10), and the last photo is of a beautiful sunset in Happy Valley (on the east side of the Rincon Mountains). I was fortunate to catch a deer silhouetted just before it zipped off over the hill. I saw a totally awesome rattlesnake in Texas Canyon, but right as I got my camera out it uncoiled itself and slipped back under its rock.

(I also got a flat tire in Happy Valley, but praise God--the tire shop patched it up for free the very next day!)

Guess where I'm going in a week and a half!

Hey! On the night of Monday, May 3 after work, I am going to be driving all night across eastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and west Texas to be hiking in the Big Bend! It is going to be a lonely and isolated 600-plus mile drive, so please lift up my safety in prayer.

I am going to be visiting both the Terlingua Ranch and Carolyn Ohl's nature sanctuary, both in the Christmas Mountains of Brewster County, Texas. This is some seriously extreme desert.

The photos are of different places in the spectacular Big Bend of southwest Texas (not taken by myself).

From death to new life, things move on

Obviously the death of my dear little girl hurts enormously, and always will, but at the same time, if we don't move on in life, we will never defeat grief. While continuing to remember her, I want to show you some of what I have been up to lately: check out these eight fully-grown Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) larvae I am currently raising from Soldier Canyon in the Catalina Mountains just northeast of Tucson.

This is what they will grow up to look like:

When I was a little boy, I still fondly remember the giant masses of larvae of this butterfly that would form on our elm trees in the front yard, but these particular caterpillars were found on willow.

RIP, my dear Missy

Hey all, sorry it has been so very long since I have updated this thing. I will do my best to change that. I have some sad news to share now--my dear sweet little old Missy--more than 20 years old (we got her when I was a little boy)--has gone home to be with her Creator. She was doing really well, but yesterday morning woke up having terrible seizures, and it was terminal.

I want to thank God for two whole decades with my little Siamese lamb, for the many miracles he did in her life, and for choosing to take her suddenly, without a long and horrible decline.

I love you, Missy.

(January 3, 1990-April 17, 2010; shown here with my grandmother the day after her 20th birthday this year)

Praise God, I have a job!

So...

Sorry I haven't been on here in ages--I've been looking for work for the past month. That's not easy to do in this economy. However, praise God--as of this morning at 11:30 a.m., I am no now longer unemployed! I'll be doing something I have some actual interest and skills in (working at a desert landscaping nursery), it will be full-time, and I have the awesomest days off on the planet (Tuesdays and Wednesdays)!

Butterfly Aliyah

Here!

As of yesterday (Friday, January 15, 2010) I am now a resident of Tucson, Arizona!!!

Woohoo!

Butterfly Aliyah

Goodbye to my friend Tanya

This is my great friend Tanya Mironowski. We went to high school together, but didn't really become good friends until long after high school (six years afterward in our case). She's great fun and is an awesome person to know and be blessed by in every way.

Yes, praise God!!!

Woohooo!!!!!

Just found out my apartment application has been APPROVED--and for much cheaper than I thought it would be!!!!!

Thank you God!

Butterfly Aliyah

Goodbye to a good buddy, Pastor Mike

This is me in my official "goodbye" photo with Pastor Mike Sanborn of Granada Heights Friends in La Mirada, CA. When I first started attending GHF, he was the college pastor there, but is now the Minister to Adults (meaning he basically rotates preaching duties with the head pastor on Sunday mornings).

Anyway, Mike is an all-around great guy and has been a solid rock for as long as I've known him. He was really interested in my move when I told him about it and went out of his way to take me aside and pray with me about it right after service this morning. This photo was taken at Granada's special, secluded meditation area (a small outdoor alcove gardened to resemble an Israeli outdoor scene [something made easy by SoCal's Mediterranean climate]).

Butterfly Aliyah

Why Tucson?

This is not a very good question! The question that should be asked is, "why not Tucson?"

• An amazing climate year-round: moderate winters, incredible springs, hot summers (but with a refreshing late afternoon monsoon rain every day between late June and late September), and fantastic falls.
• The best economy in Arizona right now, and the part of Arizona most likely to receive stimulus money under the Obama Administration (based on how it voted).
• Natural scenery that is among the most amazing in America. Enough said.
• Butterfly and bird species diversity that occurs nowhere else, including many Mexican and tropical species.
• The ability to enjoy a variety of habitats within a span of only a couple dozen miles: low Sonoran desert, higher Sonoran desert grassland, Madrean oak desert woodland, and high-altitude Canadian forest (thanks to the incredibly rich altitudinal range of SE Arizona and its famous "sky island" mountain ranges).
• Much more reasonable rents than in SoCal!
• Great and highly authentic Mexican food. (Okay, this wasn't really a big consideration for me [my stomach has been veering more towards the "hate" aspect of it's love/hate relationship with Mexican food as of late], but it's still cool to say.)

Any more questions or comments, anybody?

Butterfly Aliyah

Saying goodbye to California, part 1:

From top to bottom: a beautiful January sunset in Seal Beach, CA; a couple of funny alpacas at La Mirada Creek Park in La Mirada; my great friend Johanna and her friends Erica, Lili, and Lorraine at Cha for Tea in Alhambra; and my buddies Matt and James in Norwalk.

Explanation of the name, "Butterfly Aliyah"

Greetings,

Aliyah is the special Hebrew word that Jewish people use when they move to Israel. It means that a Jew has been divinely called to return to his or her birthright homeland. They "make aliyah" when they move to Israel. Granted, I'm not Jewish, and I am not moving to Jerusalem anytime soon, but I do feel as though Tucson (and southeast Arizona more generally) is indeed my own personal divine "promised land"--my own "holy city", as a Tucsonian friend of mine aptly put it recently.

• I have visited or passed through Tucson or the surrounding area a minimum of once a year every year since 2003.
• I feel so natural, so peaceful, so "in my element" when there and feel sad every time I have to go home.
• I know that southern California is not my "home", at least at this stage of my life.
• I have wanted to relocate to Tucson for six years, but never was serious about it until now.

Many lepidopterists (people who study butterflies and moths) and birdwatchers from all over the country have moved to Tucson because they feel "called" there because of the breathtaking Sonoran/Madrean desert habitat and wildlife there over the years. Some big examples from my own home state are the butterfly experts Jim Brock and Doug Mullins and the famous birders Hank and Priscilla Brodkin. By the grace of God, I'm joining them.

Butterfly Aliyah

Greetings, everybody

Hello everybody;

I am embarking on a wacky and wild new life journey that will take me from my natal home to the home my heart has always belonged to (southeast Arizona). As the great John Francis Daley says in his song "Neverending Summer" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQwLw4rjmlw), "I ignored what they all said/And I packed my bags instead/Traveled to a brand new state/Where I relied on only faith." Those words could not be truer of anyone else than me.

Many people may not get this transition; many people may not agree with it. At this point, while duly noted, the opinions of those people are not relevant to me. You need to get out there and do your thing--do what you have been called to do. It may be difficult--it may be a lengthy and trying process, but you need to stick to your dreams. Please see this awesome speech by one of my very good friends (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7q_MZvdaq8) or listen this sermon, "Finding a Strategic Plan" (http://www.newventure.org/dev/media/messages/audio/2010/01032010_1030_64K.mp3; my apologies for the very low volume of the latter) for much better explanations of this process than I could ever deliver myself.

Until we talk again, wish me luck on this quest of mine. May the Lord keep you all safe and guide and direct me.

Your friend,

Butterfly Aliyah