There are releases and releases

[Stelenes at aol.com]

It was a sweltering summer but pre-dawn in the year 1963.  The Monarchs were 
emerging from their chrysalises on fresh milkweed in our cramped living area, 
though my mother was in the hospital.  I selfishly kept her busy as I too 
decided to emerge into the wondrous world earlier than planned.  Dad was busy 
writing about and illustrating the Monarch's life cycle and raced to the 
hospital too tardy, but as a good parent he at least did manage to care for 
the new adults from the gold speckled cream green miracles.  The photos were 
promptly published in the unabridged version of the American Heritage 
Dictionary under the word: metamorphosis (n), with credit to Walter Dawn.

Four years later and at it again, father was just as hounded by my mother as 
I was as fascinated with the miracle of the Monarchs as can be.  I looked 
forward to the moment of release because that task was generally assigned to 
me and boy did I feel lucky and important.  But this time it was a piece he 
was working on (supposedly our consolation prize for his absence four years 
before) for "Ranger Rick," the ubiquitous kids' nature magazine of the time.  
Dad photographed me watching the Monarchs emerging intact on their milkweed 
hosts.  During an opportunistic moment in the photo session he deviated, 
forcing me to look at some spiders on the same milkweed which were emerging 
from their own sac.  I sobbed because I thought the butterflies were much 
cooler and the hundreds of spiders were intriguing but everywhere.  He sent 
the photos in and Ranger Rick's who had their own idea.  They gave the spider 
shot a half page -- rejected the Monarchs - and then the spider shot was seen 
by Time-Life and bought to promote one of Rachel Carson's books.  They all 
liked the solemn expression and wet eyes I had from missing the beloved 
Monarchs and their emergence.  At least I got to release those butterflies 
appropriately along their Eastern migration route.

This inspiration, a gift of Dad's 1918 version of Holland's Butterfly Book 
which I kept under my pillow and read with a flashlight provided my 
irreversible enlightenment.

Doug Dawn.
Woodland, CA
 
In a message dated 5/7/00 9:18:12 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
MWalker at gensym.com writes:

> Subj:  RE: There are releases and releases
>  Date:    5/7/00 9:18:12 PM Pacific Daylight Time
>  From:    MWalker at gensym.com (Mark Walker)
>  Sender:  owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>  Reply-to:    <A HREF="mailto:MWalker at gensym.com">MWalker at gensym.com</A>
>  To:  leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>  
>  In 1968 I was in the 4th grade, and we raised Japanese silkworm moths.  I
>  was given the task of babysitting them after they pupated.  It didn't occur
>  to me at the time that a lidless, unsupervised cardboard box full of 
cocoons
>  was a bad idea.  I came home after school to find silk moths mating all 
over
>  my room.  I found eggs all over my clothes and curtains.  A few escaped.
>  The world hasn't been the same since.
>  
>  Mark Walker.
>  at Whiskey Pete's, Jean, NV
>  
>  > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: Michael Gochfeld [mailto:gochfeld at EOHSI.RUTGERS.EDU]
>  > Sent: Friday, May 05, 2000 4:31 AM
>  > To: fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu; leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>  > Subject: There are releases and releases
>  > 
>  > 
>  > Ken raised an interesting historical question. Were there butterfly 
>  > releases in 1973.  I'm sure this list represents people of 
>  > very diverse 
>  > ages and very diverse localities and elementary schooling. We can 
>  > identify our own experiences both regarding whether we raised and/or 
>  > released butterflies in school and when we heard of butterfly 
>  > releases 
>  > at social events. 
>  > 
>  > I'll start. 
>  > 
>  > I graduated high school in 1957.  We did have a junior 
>  > Audubon Society 
>  > in 4th grade (birds only) and a school botanical garden, but 
>  > no raising 
>  > of butterflies.  We did dissect frogs in 10th grade biology. 
>  >    I never heard of a butterfly release here in NJ until about 
>  > 1990.  
>  > 
>  > Mike Gochfeld
>  >