Butterfly Envy

On a recent trip to the Smithsonian's Natural Museum of History, I paid money to go to the butterfly exhibit. There, I was an object of covet and adoration, more so than I ever have in my life.

It happened quite casually, actually. I walked in alone, with a small party of people, there were perhaps no more than 15 of us. The majority of the party was little girls. I walked in, camera in hand, ready to capture some butterflies. I would post them on facebook, but I haven't decided yet if anyone cares to see butterflies landing on leaves. Instead, I'll upload a choice few here, so you have no choice.

But - back to the story, I walked in, and almost immediately a butterfly lands in my hair. It latches on and decides to stay the entire duration of my time in the butterfly exhibit. I was first informed by a staring girl, who looked at my hair as she spoke to me. "You have a butterfly in your hair!" she said while touching her own. "Do I have one in mine?" she asked her nanny hopefully.

my friendly butterfly

Her nanny and friend shook their head no, while the girl moved away. Two minutes later, another girl walked up to me and grabbed my arm. She was also excited about the fact that there was a butterfly in my hair. Over the period of 20 mins, the same 5 or 6 girls came up to me to update me on the status of my friend. Whenever the butterflies would fly over them, they would stand very still, hoping that they would receive the same treatment.


The long and short of this story is that it's nice to be coveted by such guileless youth. They don't try to hide behind some distorted artifice!