In the Uppermost Galilee, perhaps 200 feet from the Israeli Lebanon border. Verdant, sunny, isolated and carpeted with blooms of many colors. March brought a whole new menu of butterflies. I had been on this same Qedesh trail twice before, but never in March. Expectant.

A bountiful basket of butterflies it was. Those blooms must have been pumping nectar hard, because butterflies of many species came up and down the trail, most eating nectar as they went along, other males flying that crazed way that male butterflies do, frenetically searching for receptive mates.

This female, of a species at risk, a brown Argus, gently sipped sweet nectar on this tiny blooms, and her orange margin patches lit up nicely. I lit up also. I was thankful to be here amidst 360 degree beauty, with flying dreams alighting right before my eyes, and a big smile on my face. Alone amidst the Artist’s palette.

Sadly, this morning’s news brought the unbelievable report of the torching of a Christian church in Bethlehem, by Muslim terrorists. That was the trigger for this post, hateful madness vs. Joyous beauty.

Jeff