Bye, Bye, Butterflies!

Today I spent my day with hundreds of other people at Natural Bridges State Beach saying farewell to the Monarch butterflies who overwinter there. They arrive each year in October and are now heading north again to signal the end of winter.

I have the good fortune in my day job, for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, to be the buyer and manager of 5 small shops located in California State Parks across  Santa Cruz County. Here, for the day, is our outdoor store. Various items of apparel emblazoned with images of monarch were the day's best sellers.

We were set up at the entrance to the Eucalyptus grove where the butterflies spend their time.

People come in droves all winter to see them clustering in the trees, but by this late in the season, there are few remaining.

The guitar strap below was inspired by the colors and patterns of the monarchs' wings and was a special gift commissioned by a friend for his wife, Julie. They are members of the 5M'S band (Mostly Mediocre Musical Monarch Mariposas).

You may remember this post and another similar piece I made before.

Another interesting part of my week was that I was featured here on the EtsyWeavers blog. The team captain interviewed me as the start of a series of member interviews so that we can all get to know one another.