Autumn is here. Here in Tucson some trees display golden leaves before they turn brown and return to the dusty grasses as the months get cooler. Our midget Trumpet bush out front has decided it’s a tree, and a show-off as well. It’s been throwing off orangey-gold blossoms since June. This, like any shining sparkly thing, is a magnet for those who love it. So the tree-bush has attracted hundreds of butterflies every morning. Dull brown ones swarm when the sun rises. They are like hyper-active children, zipping from flower to flower hardly landing long enough to get the nectar that is fuel for flight. Soon after, pale yellow ones, who always seem to travel in pairs, make their lazy flitting approach circling around Trumpet and then landing quite gracefully.
When I’m feeling anxious, I sit at my desk to write in my journal. The prelude to my early morning writing is to stop and look out my office window at the trumpet bush. It might be nice to be a butterfly in the sun – just for a while.
Ethel Lee-Miller blogs regularly about people, the power of words, and her writing life. She retired after 30 years of teaching, and semi-retired from coaching, and professional editing. Founder of the Eastside Tucson Writing Room based in Tucson AZ, she’s posted 1000s of blogs, and is the author of Thinking of Miller Place, and Seedlings, Stories of Relationships. These days she writes to inspire, to connect with folks, teaching about the power of words, gather writers together, and for the pure enjoyment of it. Ethel enjoys teaching, speaking, and storytelling at Odyssey Storytelling, Artists Standing Strong Together, Center for Spiritual Living Tucson, and anywhere there’s a mic or a Zoom room.