Butterflies And Ice Cream

September 16, 2019 1:31 pm Published by Carrie Buchanan

What a beautiful weekend.

The weather was close to perfect.

Fall is creeping in. The colours are changing. The days are shorter. The air is cooler.

And the butterflies are out in abundance! Have you noticed just how many are around right now?

As we drove to the Pinery Antique Flea Market this weekend, I’m pretty sure my kids got tired of me saying “Look! Look at the butterflies! There are so many!”

They aren’t nearly as impressed with their beauty as their mother, but they put up with me because we were headed to Grand Bend, and the Ice Cream Festival happening at the Pinery Antique Flea Market.

It was worth it. Not only did we get to enjoy our first “cotton candy sushi” but I found an old Duran Duran album that I loved when I was – cough – younger.

It’s an annual event now at the flea market. So many different kinds of ice cream. Ice cream nachos, floats, sundaes, banana splits, ice cream with pie, cheesecake, crumble, ice cream filled donuts – you name it.

If you didn’t mind waiting in a really long line, you were in a bit of ice cream heaven. The SUSHI by the way was cotton candy flavoured ice cream, wrapped in cotton candy, smothered in whipped cream with sprinkles, peanuts and some cookie crumble. Oh, and caramel sauce.

But back to the butterflies – I don’t mind looking like a dork for thinking they are amazing and beautiful and so interesting.

I don’t remember ever seeing so many beautiful Monarch butterflies.

And if you think the same thing, you aren’t alone.

According to THIS article the monarch butterfly is making a comeback and it’s numbers are strong. Point Pelee is seeing them by the thousands, should you want to take a road trip and venture that way. Locally, you will see them in Canatara Park. Thanks to these pictures from Linda McCormick in the Facebook group “You Gotta Love Sarnia”.

My youngest daughter had one fly around her and almost land on her hand.

They are on their way to Mexico for the winter. I had no idea the history of this insect. Each fall monarchs set out on an incredible 5,000-kilometre journey to their wintering sites in the mountain forests of Mexico, where they cluster together from late October through March. It’s one of the world’s longest insect migrations.