Entry #2: Mariposa

Mariposa

Mariposa means “butterfly” in Spanish and is occasionally used as a girl’s name.  It comes from “María Pósate,” meaning “Mary alight!”. I imagine Mary (whether Mary Mother of Jesus or the Virgin of Guadalupe of Mexico) who alights on a flower.  

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I have a special affection for butterflies, especially the Monarch.  I have lived in Michigan most of my life, and I enjoyed the Monarchs in our yard as a child.  When I was seventeen, I made my first trip to Michoacan, Mexico (the winter home of many Monarchs). Since then, I have traveled the same path of the monarchs by going to Michoacan and other areas of Mexico many times. Moreover, the Monarch is a reminder of my environmental values and the need to protect the Earth.  Monarchs are threatened by climate change and even their habitat in Mexico has been diminished through processes like logging. Scientists fear that their current winter grounds will become too wet and their current summer grounds too warm, causing them to change their migration patterns or even die in large numbers. 


 Copyright©2010, by Paulette L. Stenzel for text and photo.