MexicoDoug

[Mark Walker]

The saga continues...
 
On September 4th I flew from Houston to Monterrey, Mexico.  I had some
business there to attend to, but was thrilled to meet and carouse for a bit
with Doug Dawn - a LEPS-L virtual friend for many years that I had yet to
meet in person.  Doug confided in me that he couldn't be sure that I was
even a real person until we had the opportunity to sit around a table
together in a Mexican cantina.
 
So we did.
 
Let me just say that if you haven't had the opportunity to visit Monterrey,
Mexico, you're missing a real gem.  It's an incredibly beautiful place
geographically, almost completely surrounded by steep, jagged mountains lush
with various vegetation.  It's also home to the warmest and friendliest
people you could ever hope to meet.  It's no wonder that Doug has made this
his permanent home.
 
The city is progressive, technologically sophisticated, and bustling with
commerce.  Doug introduced me to a few additional "highlights" that only a
resident could have known about.  I thank him - both publicly and privately
- for his generous hospitality.  Muchas gracias, amigo.  I thank him also
for dealing ever so gently with the police officer that pulled us over
simply because the passenger wasn't wearing a seatbelt.  When meeting
someone for the first time, it's always a good idea to leave them something
to remember you by.  Doug has some future business with the court system of
Monterrey, thanks to me.  You're welcome!
 
On Thursday I drove from Monterrey to a customer site in Torrreon - about a
four hour drive due west.  There were leps crossing the road the entire way,
and I couldn't help myself but pull over and have a closer look.  My
traveling business associate, LeAnn, assumed her patient position in the
vehicle while I scurried about the desert landscape (how she puts up with me
I don't know).  Heading west from Monterrey, the terrain changes quickly to
desert scrub.  Most of the leps I saw on Thursday were familiar - being
resident in Arizona and Texas.  Papilio cresphontes, Zerene cesonia, Phoebis
sennae, Phoebis agarithe, Kricogonia lyside, Nathalis iole, Hemiargus isola,
Agraulis vanillae, Danaus gilippus, Libytheana carinenta, etc.  Nothing
immediately new, but then I was driving through some pretty desolate
habitat, for sure.  The bottom line was that I was seeing lots of lep
activity.  I was getting excited about the prospects of heading out with
Doug the following Saturday back in Monterrey.  I desperately needed some
additional training for my upcoming backpacking trip, and with Doug's
knowledge of Monterrey lepidoptera fauna, I was sure to have an experience
of a lifetime.  My visit coincidentally coincided with the annual Monterrey
butterfly count that Doug created a few years back, so our lepping objective
was part fellowship and part science.  While the science was significant,
the fellowship was priceless.
 
I will share the data from this excursion in my next update.  But for now -
I'm off to enjoy a Buchon bistro here in Paris, where I've FINALLY taken my
wife of 18 years (I've been here too many times without her...).  No
butterflies on this trip, I'm afraid.  It's damage control time...
 
Mark Walker
Business as usual in Nanterre, France.
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