I’ve been to south-central Arizona several times. This was my first visit in early Spring. It was the first week in March 2008 and Arizona enjoyed abundant rain in February. Nirvana!

White Tank Mountains Regional Park, just west of Phoenix was a painter’s palette of vibrantly colored wildflowers. Everywhere, the green was green, the flowers were rich in hue.

It was a terrific time to seek butterflies. They too were abundant and ‘fresh.’ Personally, I had just undergone years of pain, culminating in grave loss. It was so good to be in such a resilient place. The desert in bloom. I needed that.

Anthocharis cethura is a desert orangetip, enjoying the bounty of those early Spring rains.’Though loaded with buttery yellow, it is included in the white butterflies.

I was very glad to have encountered A. cethrua. After all, I was in the right place at the right time. It was an elixir after enduring another Pittsburgh winter.

Jeffrey