After spending an interesting morning behind a "no dumping" sign, photographing stuff that had been dumped, I took a short hike up Boyle Ravine with my wife. The whole time I was listening to her report on a great novel she's been reading, but also thinking about what I would do with those new photos. Nature intervened, as it so often does, as I almost stepped on a California Sister butterfly on the trail. The wings were barely moving, so I wasn't sure if it was dead and the movement was caused by wind. I picked it up and found that it was barely alive. It rested on my palm as I carried it home - no camera on this hike - and placed it on my computer sleeve for a few photos. The background was rather dark, so for comparison, I took a few photos of it on my left hand. Very little movement, so the insect was clearly in its last days or hours.
I then took the butterfly out on my back deck and photographed it on top of one of the 6 x 6 posts that support the deck railing. Since it wasn't resisting my handling, I took a few photos of its underside, the seldom seen side. Although the colors are a bit subdued, it's quite an amazing sight, and one can see or imagine the whole rainbow there.
I call this one "The Better Half" although the other half seems just as nice.
I'm almost ready to post some results of my exploration behind the "no dumping" sign.
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