Rain, Rain, Go Away!

SnowpocalypseLessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center

Following the wettest fall and winter on record in 25 years, we appear to be in the midst of setting another record; this time for the wettest spring. While it was exciting and encouraging to end the drought that has plagued much of the nation, this dreary, drizzly weather is both unfamiliar and unrelenting.  I believe the rest of the nation will agree with me when I say, “Winter, you have over-stayed your welcome.”

Nine months of rain at the National Butterfly Center have slowed our productivity dramatically, delaying planting and weeding, postponing the completion of construction projects, and resulting in a loss of earned income from educational programs, field trips and visitation. 

Now, downed trees, washed out trails, funky fungi and frisky frogs fill our days. Belinda keeps busy cleaning and sorting seeds, which she’s trying to germinate inside. Ricky doesn’t seem to mind slogging around outside, where he and our rusty tractor do what they can to keep the backsliding at a minimum. Angie has been very busy communicating with anxious teachers, disappointed by the forecast and the need to repeatedly reschedule their school visit. Trapped indoors, Max is focused on locating hard-to-find plants to enhance the Texas Butterfly Gardens, while I trudge along seek funding opportunities for everything we need under the sun.

It’s just too wet to scout for the Texas Butterfly Festival, take Spike for a walk, or venture outside with camera equipment in search of migratory birds, and frankly, we’re all going a little stir-crazy.

I can only imagine what it’s like for our members and friends in the frigid northeast! Blizzard after blizzard, I imagine them cursing the Polar Vortex as they push snowplows and pray for a break in this blasted season of white outs and sub-zero temperatures. Even operations in distant Austin came to a halt, last week, and San Antonio reported snowfall just beyond the Tamale Curtain.  Bbbrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

I wonder whether Snowmageddon 2015 will produce a baby boom, like our hurricanes do, or bestselling stories from Behind the Snow Bank.  #Snowpocalypse is trending on social media, producing images and comments from the ridiculous to the sublime; proving the fortitude (or insanity?) of everyone who chooses to live above the Mason-Dixon Line.

I guess we shouldn’t complain about our precipitation, in light of yours.  Instead, let us all lean in, for we cannot stop the wet stuff falling from the sky. Pray it will pass this April, and bring a bounty of May flowers, sunshine and butterflies!

 
 

We are grateful for the support of:

City-of-Mission-Color-Logo bentsen-palm

Inside the National Butterfly Center

Hours of Operation

Open 7 Days a Week 
8:00 - 5:00
364 Days / Year

Closed Easter Sunday

Come See Us

National Butterfly Center
3333 Butterfly Park Drive
Mission, TX 78572
956-583-5400
GPS Coordinates:
26.180243 -98.364973

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