ANOTHER FABULOUS DAY

ANOTHER FABULOUS DAY

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

01/IX/2024

Listening to Come September I stepped into September. It turned into a ‘fabulous day’ first day of the month. For that, there had to be certain conditions which had to be met. ‘Ms Luck’ had to be on my side and ‘Mr Murphy’ had to be missing in action.

In the morning, I went out to feed the fish. I generally take a stroll in the garden to glance at the pots after having fed them. There had been torrential rains for the last two days. If rain water stagnates in pots, it becomes a nemesis for the plant. An inspection can save you from heart burns.

The first pot in the row was a ‘monkey tail’ plant (Acalypha Hispida). It is in full bloom. Rain can play havoc with its hanging flowers. For a moment, I thought it was an illusion, when I saw something printed black and brown on its leaves. It could be a dead leaf which would have got stuck on it. Such illusions occur when one is not wearing spectacles.

I approached the pot like I generally do to remove dead leaves. It was just in the nick of time I withdrew my hand. It was a butterfly sitting with its wings spread fully. Almost six inches from tip to tip. It was a rare chance to see a butterfly settled so comfortably. Butterflies generally tend to fly away, but it sat fixated as if beckoning me to take a photograph, which I did. Was it laying its eggs? Was it hurt in the rain? Was it tired and resting? I don’t know. But it posed so graciously.

I dashed inside and took photos. For one moment I thought it was dead as she just sat still, stuck to that leaf. When I moved the lens within inches of the ‘Lime butterfly’ it did not get perturbed. Then, it fluttered its wings. I breathed a sigh of relief and let her be.

As I was sorting the pictures, my daughter mentioned that look papa, a puppy with long hanging ears playing with his toy which was printed on the butterfly’s wing. Its identical twin was playing on the other wing too. For a moment it looked true. Then, I saw continents of Australia, Africa and one of them even looked like India. Amazing!

It being a bright sunny Sunday morning, I thought of taking Ms Luck with me, assuming Mr Murphy would still be in his sleeping bag. I went to the river front to capture some birds or wild flowers. I exchanged the customary Ram-Ram with the Pandit ji. However, even with pandit ji’s blessings, Mr Murphy started stalking me, as I found nothing to click.

As I was wound up to head home, I saw a ‘yellow grass butterfly’. Just about an inch big, sitting on a blade of grass. I got it.

As I moved on, I found a cluster of ‘white butterflies’ enjoying nectar on a bush, called the ‘Common Emigrant Butterfly’ (Catopsilia Pomona). They were not in a mood to pose but I was determined to click one. I did.

My stomach started making noises and requesting for breakfast. When one is on his round, one tends to forget the time, but the stomach rings the alarm bells.

Just as I was about to put the lens cover on, I decided to take one last round of a row in our colony. Good that I changed my mind. I found a spotted white bird feasting on a bird feeder hung in someone’s house. It was the size of a dove but appeared to be a baby pigeon. It had black and white spots with shades of grey. A beautiful bird to find just before shutting shop.

It could be by chance that it landed up here. I was as close as about three meters from it. The bird was a little scared initially but the lure of grains was more. It would stop and look at me, then continue picking grains. A few clicks made my day again.

As I was entering my house, I saw the ‘lime butterfly’ fly to the balcony. I gave her a flying kiss and requested her to return to enjoy the nectar of our flowers again. She flapped her wings and I took it as an affirmative answer.

How much better can be the start to a fabulous day? I wonder!!!!!!!