A Room Full of Butterflies

Imagine. Butterflies everywhere!


At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City they had special exhibit about butterflies. And a room full of...you guessed it...butterflies.

We were able to walk into the butterfly conservatory that allowed us to stand inside a special glass room while butterflies flew freely all around us. It was awesome! Something I always wanted to do.


They made us enter through one set of doors, wait until the first door closed, and then opened the door to the conservatory. I supposed they didn't want the butterflies to escape. Then we walked around and snapped pictures, and let the butterflies flap around. None landed on me, but several landed on people's heads, shoulders, hands, etc. around me. Walking amidst these winged creature was surreal.


I think I could've stayed in the butterfly conservatory forever. If we hadn't been in New York City, with so many other great sights, I think I just might've.

Bright, Bright Sunshiny Day

Sunflowers waving in the wind. I am shocked at how tall those things get. How is it possible that stalks could get that high without toppling over? I am just amazed. What keeps sunflowers from drooping down?? They seem so top heavy.

I believe that sunflowers equal smiles. They take you away to a fun sunshiny place. They make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. They mean sunny days, water sprinklers, iced-lemonade, and the smell of freshly cut grass. Sunflowers just make you happy; that is, of course, unless you are crazy. Although, crazy people probably like sunflowers too.


Just for fun: Step by Step Guide for growing sunflowers.

A Good Place for Hiking

Ironic. On Thursday, I starting writing this post about how much I love the South Central Pennsylvania area because there are so many nice hiking trails around, then, that very night, a trail took revenge. I started on a hike, it began to rain, the finale of So You Think You Can Dance was about to be on in a half an hour, so I brilliantly decided to run down the the mountain. Well, I was wearing old sneakers, and the rocks were really slippery wet, so I took a tumble and sliced open my knee. Smart, I know. At least I didn't break anything. I told my mom that I was close enough to the road that I could have at least crawled down the side of the mountain and laid on the road until somebody stopped. A great relief, it didn't come to that. It probably would've been a sketchy white unlabeled van that would be the first to drive by too...

However, as I started writing earlier, I do love living in a place where there is easy access to nature. I love the beauty and freedom of a solitary trail. I love the climb up into the middle-of-nowhere, where birds sing, turtles scuttle, mountain laurels flower, and vistas overlook the valley.

When my brother-in-law who lives in Texas was here, we hit up almost all the trails within driving distance to Shippensburg. When I make my move to the city at the end of this week, I am going to miss the nature I have grown to love this summer.


Maybe the DC area has lots of nature too? I know downtown DC is at least landscaped well. How about the suburbs? I guess I'll find out.

Fried Chicken and Fireworks

I spent my 4th of July with Emily and her family. Thanks Em! It was lovely day. We drove to the middle of no where, namely Bear Valley, for a picnic. We ate ridiculous amounts of food from fried chicken to watermelon. Yum. We took a walk into the woods, found a random bra along the side of the road, played with Wally and Oscar (her dog and her sister's dog), and sat on lawn chairs in the middle of the creek.


Then after we got back to Emily's house we played her Wii until it was time for the fireworks. Her brother-in-law set them off in their back yard, and we were not disappointed. They were poof-poofing and zing-zapping like crazy.

Some of them scared me, I'm not going to lie. Neon fire and trees seem like a disaster waiting to happen...but nothing did. We had a safe and fun 4th of July!

My What a Pretty Tree

Did you have a happy Earth Day yesterday?

The Weeping Cherry Tree in my front yard is gorgeous. Warmer weather, flowering plants (especially pink trees), and rainy afternoons are perhaps my favorite part of spring.


My least favorite parts of spring are the new emergence of spiders, bugs, and thousand leggers. They start to "spring" up and I despise them. They must die. I have a closet arsenal of Raid. Bah ha ha, little buggies.

Fall Break

Tomorrow, I am off to Wallops Island, Virginia for 5 days as part of my honors colloquium class in service learning. We are going to count oysters, ride in kayaks, present a poster on Rachel Carson, smell like fish, do some kind of service project, go to the aquarium in Baltimore, MD, visit Chincoteague (and hopefully the ponies) among other stuff. We are going to be working with the Marine Science Consortium. This should be an experience. An environmental one. I'm excited, it should be fun. Not something I'd usually attempt. Whooo, fall break!