A New Pandemic in America?

A New Pandemic in America?

Recently long-time friends and I had the opportunity to visit the newest edition to the Valley of the Sun, The Butterfly Wonderland, touted as America’s largest indoor butterfly pavilion…a rainforest experience. It is definitely a must see for everyone, residents and visitors alike. Upon entering the pavilion you are directed first to a 3D movie experience featuring the migration habits of the Monarch Butterfly which is approximately fifteen minutes long. During this movie the butterflies appear to fly just within your grasp, around your head, filling you with childlike wonder and delight. The movie is extremely informative and we left feeling much better informed and perhaps with a sense of arrogance basking in our new-found intelligence.

Next you are directed to the ‘Chrysalis Room’ where hundreds of butterflies, of all different species and colors, are in the process of breaking free of their cocoons. Witnessing one Monarch Butterfly trying to break free was like watching a ‘live birth.’ This Monarch’s lower wings and body were free of its restraint, but try as it might it could not completely break free. We watched and tried to give it directions, such as “Don’t forget to breathe…pant, and push, push, push,” as it struggled pushing with its tiny, thin legs to complete the birth process. Soon the entire room was entranced by the actions of this one Monarch. Its wings were a beautiful shade of black with gorgeous turquoise markings, but it struggled in vain. Someone suggested calling a surgeon to perform a C-Section, then we all worried that it was being deprived of oxygen and would be born mentally challenged. We speculated that it would not be able to make the long, arduous migration that we had witnessed in the movie, because it would not be able to fly straight because of these mental challenges. We were all pulling for that beautiful Monarch, but after thirty minutes, it still had not broken free and had ceased its struggles.

Slowly we all walked on to see the next exhibit, feeling saddened by the loss of this one Monarch that we had so loving coached knowing that we had truly witnessed the realities of life where not everyone makes it, yet the laughter and humor of everyone in the room, complete strangers to one another except for our personal friends or acquaintances, continues to brighten my life to this very day. Life is very hard, so it seems necessary to take the time and seize the opportunity to laugh and find humor even in the most mundane. Laughter truly is the ‘best medicine’ for whatever ails us. It is contagious, so embrace it and remember it can bridge the generational gap, every ethnicity and race. Let’s all start a new Pandemic in America.