Ugh!

There were very light snow flurries today.  I’m not ready for winter!

Pondering Pastor

Life

Life is a beach … sand everywhere.

Unintended Consequences

No matter how hard you think through and plan, unintended consequences are always part of the mix.  Consider this:

On Labor Day this week, my wife and I decided it was time to do a little outdoor plant buying.  There were sales galore, and after visiting one nursery and not being able to decide on what we wanted, we visited another (where the prices were lower and the selection was actually not overwhelming).  We chose four plants for our front yard, and happened upon a “Butterfly plant” that was loaded with butterflies.  The consultation that ensued was not whether or not to purchase this plant, but rather which color to get.  We settled on the yellow one, and had visions of “flocks” of butterflies discovering our back yard.  We could see ourselves sitting on the deck, enjoying the sight of these marvels of nature.

It took a day or two for the butterflies to find the bush.  Today I noticed many butterfies being attracted and grabbed my camera so that my wife could at least know that the bush was “working”.

Apparently, word had gotten around.

I noticed a butterfly hanging a little askew, and tried to pick off the dead butterfly before I snapped the photo.  It was attached pretty firmly.  That seemed a little odd to me.  So I looked more closely, and there found that a praying mantis had found lunch and wasn’t going to let go!

Of course!  If you attract butterflies, you attract those critters that eat them too!

I snapped the photo of lunch.

Lunch on the Butterfly Plant