Wow! Did I have fun today! The San Diego Safari Park had their spring Butterfly Encounter and this was the first year I was home to see it. The butterflies flew around you in an open-air aviary. (Please click to enlarge).
We all were mesmerized. I was blown away by how gentle the little children were, cupping their hands to protect the landing butterflies.
See for yourself, the butterflies were ethereal!
The flowers were pretty amazing too~
It was wonderful to be reminded how much children naturally love our planet’s creatures.
The butterflies reminded me of the ones I saw in Iguazu Falls who loved to hitch rides on humans.
You had to be inspected before you left to make sure you weren’t carrying out a hitchiker!
They were not the least bit afraid.
What an amazing experience!
I almost made it out with this hitchiker on me!
Cheers to you from our planet’s amazing flying flowers~
-
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cindyknoke.com 
I am amazed at how many different and vivid colors there are on your beautiful flying flowers pics! Sweet!! Hugz Lisa and Bear
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There were even more, but I had to set some limits. It was hard!
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Reblogged this on Spirit In Action and commented:
Thank you Cindy! I love butterflies. Before we had a chemical crazy neighbor here, a few other neighbors and I had butterfly gardens and we had crowds of them all the time. Once the herbicides and pesticides started to be applied all the time they mostly disappeared.
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Oh how sad! You gotta love the catepillars if you love the butterflies! Thank you my friend and hugz~
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I love them all:-) and eventually those of us with lots of butterfly love will prevail and they will come back. Thank you for sharing your beautiful visions of nature with us!
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I wonder how we can get Cindy’s photos to your neighbor to persuade the person to nurture the yard rather than fight with it.
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What a good idea! I’m up for any plan……
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The poison loving people were shown the butterflies and pointed out the larval plants-and they proceeded to specifically poison them even to actually using herbicides on blooming garden plants and killing them:-( Like Monsanto itself, it appears some of its customers are just not into life/living things, beauty or community and responsibility. I feel more hopeful than I did tho since many other people are now taking up butterfly gardens and permaculture in our area. Eventually the Monsanto glee club crowd will be outnumbered and overtaken by laws banning destructive poisons.
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Oh! I have known people like that! I am so sorry for you, to be living so closely with people who think that they thrive on domination. I am relieved that you see permaculture and butterfly gardens surrounding them, and possibly putting them “out of business” so to speak. Then, they can dominate by being the best growers of organic berries 🙂
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Always such hope and color in your postings. They show such gentle beauty of life.
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So happy you see and appreciate it my friend! Cheers & thank you~
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Wow what an awesome experience, I bet it does wonders for your health as well – slows down the heart rate and probably lowers the blood pressure. Nature has wonderful healing powers and there’s so much beauty too!
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Yes indeed! It has always had a profoundly calming effect on me. It’s hard to worry to much when you are surrounded by such productive wildlife busily and happily going about their business. Hope your hubby and you spend some healing time in nature when he’s up and ready. Hugz to you my friend~
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The butterflies are beautiful. I’m amazed how they sat on the children’s hands.
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Lovely isn’t it? The gentle rapture on the face of the children was priceless but I didn’t photograph them because I didn’t have their parent’s permission~
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Oh, Cindy, how glorious. The black and white one on the pink flower is my favorite!
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Lovely isn’t he/she!! Thank you my friend~
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You sure live in a beautiful place!
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Hi Cindy,
Pictures of the butterflies are beautiful and I love ’em, but I’ve always found that as good as the picture may be, it pales in comparison to seeing the real thing up close and natural. Hugs, Cuz !
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Yes indeed and best of all in the wild like in Iguazu. When they hitched a ride on me, I felt doubly blessed! Hugz back cuz~
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wow!
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That is what I thought!
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Wow! If you did not tell us that these were in a live butterfly exhibit I would have thought that you had amazing luck with the flowers and buttersflies together. The photos are stuning still. In a recent conversation with someone who enjoys nature photography, he said that birds and butterflies will tend to come back to which ever flower/branch they were one. Rather than chasing them around, he set up his equipment where they are then waits for them to return. Currently, our temperatures have just risen enough for the flies to hatch from all the manure we add to our garden plots. They are doing their job breaking down the soil, but certainly obnoxious when they come into the cabin. Sorry, that I have been abscent recently. Trying to catch up on garden prep work after this winter.
Oscar
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Yes, I finally figured this out in the exhibit. Park by the busy flower and don’t move. It worked! I remember being beseiged by flies in a cabin in Capitol Reef. Not fun at all. No problem about being absent. We wait for you~
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What an amazing experience and you’ve captured it beautifully, Cindy.
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Merci beaucoup Linda~
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This is utterly beautiful! I loved the blue-black one. Nature has limitless variations and limitless flights of imagination!
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Yes and a wonder to behold! So happy you enjoyed~
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Beyond beautiful!
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Flying boquets!! Mil grazi~
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Beautiful! I think butterflies are the closest things to fairies we can actually see. These are fabulous photos!!
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Oh that summarizes them perfectly! From now on they are Flying Fairies! Thanks~
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polka dotted eyeballs!! Why don’t WE get polka dotted eyeballs! Sakes alive, I have never seen such close ups of these magick creatures–I believe they are angels, for sure. I just can’t imagine how you’ve done this–butterfly whisperer, maybe? bzz-bzz…
Gosh. I skim and I scan, and it’s just like candy…>!<
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Oooooh! Now Polka Dot Eyes would have been the BEST title for this post!
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Really amazing shots! Beautiful, Cindy!
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Awwww, thank you~
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Unbelievably beautiful colours and images, Cindy. What a wonderful park that must be to visit. 🙂
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Thank you my friend and I hope you visit soon!
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a magic world! Thank you to share.
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Merci beaucoup mon ami~
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Great photos. I especially like the first one (the eyes are amazing).
Our granddaughter can be pretty hyper when she visits us here on the farm. But she loves butterflies so much that when she’s at the butterfly bushes she can play for hours. Children’s natural love for beautiful creatures is a wonderful thing to see.
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It is a shame that we teach that wonder out of children. It is so good to reclaim it! You grandaughter sounds delightful. Cheers to you and thanks for stopping by~
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I love planting specific species of plants in my garden to attract the butterflies. Love these photos outstanding job! So hard, we are moving and I will not be able to take all of my flowers. Starting over again… Melody
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Oh to have to move away from your flowers, is difficult indeed! The only solace is the new ones you can plant! Cheers to you & thank you~
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Starting over is a good thing.
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Reblogged this on Donkey Whisperer Farm Blog and commented:
Love to plant specific plants to attract the butterflies in my garden!
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This is very thoughtful of you and so very appreciated! Merci beaucoup~
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Goregous!! I do this too! So peaceful~
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time really stops when I see these photographs! 🙂
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Oh that makes me happy! Thank you and cheers too~
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Such amazing detail you have, these are really wonderful – what stunning creatures they are!! 😀
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I am just very happy you enjoy them!
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Cheers to a butterfly show … (we occasionally go to one here) … and they offer countless photo ops … and even more for someone like yourself who knows how to use a good camera!
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How thoughtful of you to say & how appreciated! Grazi~
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What absolutely beautiful butterflies – what an incredible experience! 🙂
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I went back today because my husband wanted to see them! I got some gorgeous new varieites. It is just magical! Thanks so much for stopping by~
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“Awesome!” Your reactions and your photos almost brought me to unexpected tears.
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Awwwww, you I do not want to make cry! But I know what you are saying and I am grateful! Hugz~
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Absolutely stunning, Cindy! I went to a butterfly garden in a Seattle zoo once and was mesmerized. I could have spent the entire day there. Lovely, lovely pictures!
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YEP!!! I just went back because by hubby wanted to see them. Got some great shots of the Blue Morphos. It is a wonderful experience and I am glad you know this first hand!
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Wish butterflies locally are that tame. 🙂
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They were in the Amazon and in Iguazu Falls, both jungles with not too many people who don’t hurt them!
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So beautiful.
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Nature can certainly come up with such a variety of designs and colours, as on these butterflies. Stunning 🙂
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Yes! Mother Nature is the ultimate artist! Cheers to you and thank you too~
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Pingback: (Die Sonntagsleserin) KW #15 – April 2014 | Bücherphilosophin.
I just love butterflies, their colours and movement inspire me. Beautiful photographs.
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So happy you enjoyed them & cheers to you!
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Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.
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You honor me and I am most appreciative! Thank you & cheers to you~
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Reblogged this on Jugraphia Slate.
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How thoughtful and considerate of you and how very appreciated!
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The Pleasure was entirely mine
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Beautiful butterflies Cindy and a nice experience having them on one’s hand. Such delicate creatures 🙂
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Something truly other-worldly and wonderful about these flying fairies!
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I have never seen butterflies quiet like these the colours are out of this world.
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Yes, it is why I had to go back to make sure I wasn’t dreaming!!
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The return was also like a dream.
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😎
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Beautiful photos. I don’t know what happened, but I lost you from my following list. I back to following you.
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WP glitches are what happened! Someone else mentioned this. Today in my reader I had 6 hours of people’s post and then it jumped to 1 month ago, eliminating more than 29 days of posts from my reader. Impressive!
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B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L is the only right word. Thanks for sharing these wonders.
FGM
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So kind and so appreciated!! Thank you for your thoughtfulness~
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Cindy…I feel literally humbled when I come to your blog!! ❤ Your incredible eye for art & beauty and your skill having mastered your craft is mind boggling! Being able to look at the product of these things leaves me: humbled…emotional….joyous…amazed…& grateful to know you & call you friend. 😉
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Well, you know there is a reason why I blog, and you are a perfect example of why I do it. I have such gratitude for the incredibly kind, generous and talented friends, I have made through blogging. You enrich my life and bring me joy. I would never have the opportunity to meet you if it were not for blogging, and so I am very grateful. Hugz to you my friend and thank you for your generosity of spirit and for sharing your God given talents with all of us~
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