Metamorphosis and Lunch

Brilliant sunshine and a warm fall day in New England -- the perfect setting for lunch and more... 
A few Rexvillians (mac, Sparky, JenCT), some spouses (Paul, Phil), a couple of German tourists (Michael & Silke), and a botanist (Sheila) or two rounded out the field for a delicious meal, a smattering of crossword gossip, and plenty of conversation about everything else.  It's a curious and marvelous thing that the internet has wrought, enabling such a meeting.

First, the menu: chouriço with Jen's fabulous bread, Phil's garden tomato salsa, beef bulgogi & chicken satay, and for desert, mac's perfection of a pound cake with fresh berries and Il Bacio ice cream (the best you'll ever have!). 

Now for ordinary folks, that would have been enough for a spectacular day.
But Jen, our in-house part-time lepidopterist, brought us all a little bit of magic...

A crystal-clear jewel of a chrysalis, with a soon-to-emerge Monarch waiting within.  She held it in front of the AC vents in the car during the 1-1/2 hour drive, to make sure it wouldn't emerge until just the right moment!

Neither words nor pictures can convey the wonder of seeing this happen before your very eyes.  But do click on more below and take a look.
Jen raises 100's of butterflies each year, filling her garden with her charges favorite diet of milkweed, spice bush, etc..  (She helped me identify the spice bush growing on our land - so that's why I have seen Spice Bush Swallowtails around here!

Thanks everyone for making the trek, the delicious food and wine, and most of all, the company.

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