I was on Mt. Meron in the Upper Galilee region of the HolyLand (Israel). Wasn’t my first visit to the mountain, and once again, I was working that same trail, not far from the mountain’s peak. Above me, a top Secret IDF military base, ahead of me, wildflowers and butterflies in abundance.

I’m quick to form likes, and I’d already decided that I Love a butterfly, names Maniola Telemessia. Like ‘Love,’ this butterfly was hard to get, so to speak. It was swift, and they did not tolerate my approach. Me? I don’t easily give up, not when ‘Love’ is real. There won’t ever be a Jeff’s biography, but when I am zonked by ‘Love,’ look out.

After much furtive (near useless/unproductive) following of Maniola Telemessia, I spotted this one, nectaring on a tiny, yet armed with bristles, plant. You know I shoot Macro- and Fuji Velvia film, requiring I make a patent-pending, ultra-slow approach. As I was doing it, she moved a bit, and her left forewing was now out of the shade and in the sun! I shot away, Pop! PoP! Pop!

Heere’s an image that will always be one of my favorites, of the perhaps 100,000. It just sends me to the land of Bliss!

Jeff