Spring Azure butterfly

The theme of today, for both Christians and Jews, is rebirth, and if you're looking for a suitable mascot from the natural world, the Spring Azure butterfly is just about perfect. While the Mourning Cloak is on the wing a bit earlier than the Azure, the former species overwinters as an adult and so just has to roll out of hiding and fly; the Azure, on the other hand, spends the cold months inside a chrysalis, so, before it can take to the air, it has to undergo metamorphosis and transformation, which is a more apt natural metaphor for the religious holidays. In a wonderful poem titled "Blue-Butterfly Day,"  Robert Frost, who knew a thing or two about New England natural history,  called members of the Celastrina ladon clan, "flowers that fly," and I couldn't agree more with his description. There's a touch of sky on the ground, a blue blossom with wings.