Sharon in a swarm of Hackberry Butterflies
Butterflies land on Sharon’s hat
It was mid-May. We had closed on the hollow only a month or so ago. We were coming out to the place on the weekends slowly moving our lives in. One of the first belongings we unloaded was the hammock, of course. We stretched it out between two trees on the hillside, took off our shoes and had our first official “hammock time” in our new home. As we laid there, staring out in awe of everything, a butterfly drifted over and landed on Sharon’s finger. “Could this really be happening?” ” Is this that sign we were looking for affirming that we made the right decision to go through our own metamorphosis and buy this wild, overgrown hollow?” It stayed with us for nearly half an hour before it fluttered away, leaving the two of us with huge grins on our faces.
It was such a memorable moment for us that when we returned back to our old home to pack some more over the next two weeks, we jokingly referred to our trailer, falling farmhouse, and wilderness as Butterfly Hollow whenever we talked about the place. When we returned and drove down the little lane that leads into the hollow two weeks later, we couldn’t believe our eyes…… Hundreds, thousands, and probably millions of Butterflies were EVERYWHERE!!!
It was a very strange ride into the hollow to say the least. Everything was normal until we got within 2 miles. Then the gray chip-tar road slowly started turning a golden brown. By the time we turned onto our gravel road there were places where the gravel disappeared and all you could see were blankets of tan, gold, brown and white rippling and fluttering. I looked back in the rear view mirror and watched the blankets explode into hundreds of dashing butterflies. It felt like we were driving in the jungles. The population keep getting thicker and thicker as we made our way back up into the valley.
When we got out of the truck, a dozen butterflies immediately landed on Sharon’s head. We died laughing remembering the one little butterfly that landed on her finger two weeks earlier. I think he sent out a telegram to his whole village and told them about the place that we were going to call Butterfly Hollow after them.
It’s been like clock work ever since. Each year there is a hatching of the same variety, around the third week in May. These beautiful little flutter-bys are actually Hackberry and Tawny Emperor Butterflies. There’s a second hatching in mid-summer and we always looked forward to having them come land on us, tickle us and remind us that inside us all is a caterpillar that has wings to change.
Little did we know that those little wings would one day fly us to the moment where we would quietly share our home as a quaint bed and breakfast, it would one day become the backdrop for romantic weddings and somehow inch its way into the heart of many a discerning traveler that would come back year after year to their special place, quietly waiting somewhere along the unbeaten path.
