We are lucky enough to live on a major highway, not a manmade highway, but a natural one that has run right through our county for thousands of years. In the fall, about half a million monarch butterflies travel through our region, on their way to winter in Mexico.

A few days ago, I saw my first monarch of the year. It was hanging around the butterfly bush in the backyard. For about 2 weeks before this sighting, thousands of cabbage butterflies were filling the air, seeming to travel somewhere as well. There were so many, it was difficult to drive without hitting one. Apparently, from what I have read, the cabbage butterflies are heading to hilltops in order to attract mates. Seemingly endless varieties of butterflies appear in our area in late summer. I love to watch them. To me they represent hope.

The monarch butterflies migrate in a meandering fashion north from Mexico in the spring. In the fall, beginning in early September, a more concentrated and direct migration (with the supporting work of approximately 5 generations in between) takes place. The butterflies that will make it back to Mexico are called super monarchs. Their lifespan is far longer than usual, in order to support as much as a 3,000 mile journey from Canada to Mexico. The monarchs follow, in a wide swath, approximately the route of I35 from Wichita Falls to Eagle Pass.

The monarch migration corridor is primarily through central Texas, including Brown and Coleman counties. The migratory path supports the most butterfly traffic from early to mid October, according to entomologist Mike Quinn, Director of Texas Monarch Watch, a program developed by researchers in conjunction with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Quinn’s program monitors travel conditions and supports population estimates of monarch butterflies. It is too early yet for numbers data for this year’s migration, but the rains we received a few weeks ago should help recover what could have been a catastrophic season for the monarch. Many people living along the corridor plant milkweed variants in their gardens and flowerbeds in order to help sustain the butterflies on what can often be a perilous journey through Texas. The State of Texas as well as many citizens, have mounted efforts to encourage the protection and sustainment of the monarch as it makes its way through our region.

The Native Texas Butterfly Garden, located in McKinney, has created ideal habitats for many different species of butterflies. Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg supports a large butterfly population, and Grapevine hosts the Butterfly Flutterby every year in October, featuring educational displays, butterfly releases, a costume contest and artwork. The Texas Butterfly Ranch in San Antonio holds educational and art exhibits dedicated to the monarch’s travels through the state. There are even butterfly viewing field trips, accompanied by a guide who can point people in the right direction to see as many butterflies as possible.

I prefer to watch the butterflies in the yard from my back porch. Right here where we live, we have a front row seat to see the extraordinary number of butterflies that become active during the early days of fall. I like to see them along back road drives as well, diving and rising from thistle flowers and goldenrod.

The ancient Greeks associated the idea of a human soul with the image of a butterfly. To me, butterflies are more than beautiful insects. Theirs is a story about grace and transformation, a tale told without words–a living witness to the ability to become more than you were when you began. A butterfly starts out as a creeping wormlike thing. It’s not really very pretty. The caterpillar creates a cocoon. It curls up inside, and waits to be changed into something unrecognizable, something so beautiful that it seems to float on air.

There have been a lot of hardships this year for many. Recovery from the covid situation, which caused severe illness as well as isolation and fear, financial strain from inflated costs of living, a terrible drought and soaring temperatures–these all took a toll on many lives, both human and animal. The butterflies are still here though, still being transformed from one type of creature to another, just as the hard times, and also the happy times in life transform us. Maybe the butterflies are showing us that no matter what losses life throws at us, no matter how long and difficult the struggle is, there is an ultimate goal. We too, by the experience of living, are being transformed.

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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns and articles appear periodically on BrownwoodNews.com