Autumn Metamorphosis

Sunny Days and the and the changing of the leaves have made this an incredibly beautiful place to be. Amy always likes to be here for peak fall color and to snap a few pictures. Who can blame her. I have been other places during  the autumn and I always feel this spectacle is most beautiful here at home.

This year the colors are beautiful, but our wild weather has left its mark. In some areas the trees are bare. The winds and rain stripped them . In other places the trees have their color, but many of the leaves are gone giving them a slightly transparent ghostly look. The overall effect is still breathtakingly beautiful.

It's always a wonderful surprise to find something new in the garden. I had slipped out to get some fresh dill for the salmon that we were having for dinner. As I was cutting my dill, I noticed two black caterpillars. One was small and the other tiny. It was too dark to get a good look , but the next morning I got my picture. I searched to find the identity of this unknown caterpillar. What I discovered was that metamorphosis is a longer and more complicated process than I ever imagined. This is the first instar of the Black swallowtail butterfly, one of several that completes the process from egg to butterfly. I always thought that this butterfly went from this caterpillar into a chrysalis and emerged as this butterfly.  So I didn't see a new caterpillar at all, but one of the different forms of my old friend the Black swallowtail butterfly. I hope he didn't mind sharing the dill!