I Saw God Today

During a recent camping trip, which happened to be my first visit to the Mogollon Rim (not to be confused with Mongolian Rum) I had the most simple, brief, and utterly amazing encounter with nature. As my companions and I sat next to Woods Canyon Lake, I noticed the most beautiful butterfly I've seen flying around, and it landed on the trail just behind me. Its wings were decorated with a brilliant blue and edged in gold. Experience dictates that butterflies scare easily, and I've not ever captured a great photo of one yet, even with the countless Monarchs I've seen.

I quickly snapped as many angles as I could before it flew away. Well, it didn't. So I changed my position and placed my hand in front of it. It still didn't scare, and even walked one of it's front legs onto my finger and began checking me out with its proboscis (pro-BOSS-iss)...yes it sounds icky but it's the little nose feeler thingie that they use to suck up nectar from flowers. 

Apparently it liked whatever I had on my hands...whether it be the endless hand sanitizer I used throughout the weekend in lieu of running water and soap...or body spray in lieu of shower...or dish soap...who knows. The amazing part was that it ended up on my hand and stays for a lot longer then I would have guessed. 

Everyone gathered around (as you can see...I didn't take this shot myself) and eventually it flew off. It circled around for a little while then disappeared. 

We wandered over to another area of the shore, and I was sitting watching the little fishies in a sunny spot in the water. A butterfly landed close, and it was either the same one or at least the same type as before, and again I was able to coax it onto my hand. This time the wind blew, and I could feel its little feet cling into my finger to avoid blowing away, which is interesting and I wondered why it didn't just fly off with the wind. 

This was my perfect, beautiful moment with nature. Often missed living in the City, but makes it so much more special when we experience them every now and again.