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.