I’ve been to Tiffany’s flagship store on New York City’s Fifth Avenue many times. I’ve been to Pre-Sale Exhibitions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s as well. Frieda A”H would try on solitaire diamond rings, jade rings, earrings, necklaces, extraordinary broaches, and bracelets at these sales of magnificent jewelry. I toured exhibitions before sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Doyle and more back then. I had an itch for fine porcelains, American and Flemish oils, Homer watercolors, Bierstadt, Salymon von Ruisdael, Hudson River School paintings, and so much more.

I worked in New York City in the ’80’s. Folks were dressed well back then, very well. Madison Avenue was the end all of end all’s for well dressed women and men. People watching at the Met, MOMA, Brooklyn Museum, and all of New York’s museums was special, very special.

I also changed in the 1980’s and G-d became important to me. My Biology degree, teaching High School Biology in the ’70’s and then from 1994 to my retirement reaffirmed my love for botany and fauna. Then came my increased interest in butterflies and wish to capture and share their beauty on this blog.

This image of a Malachite is from the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas near the border wall. This wild beauty exceeds the finest I have seen in all the places listed above. It mightily underscores my awe when I am blessed to encounter living beings of extraordinary beauty, as this Malachite.

This is why I do what I do. This is what eludes the comprehension of most who know or meet me. But that’s OK.

Jeff