I am delighted to share Cindy Dyer’s photography and article with you. Cindy has helped me with book covers, art layout, and publishing of several books, newsletters, and magazines. Her photography is something to shout about.
Tag Archives: Butterfly
In the studio: Mary Ellen Ryall
1 11 2013
Mary Ellen Ryall and I crossed paths more than eight years ago when I purchased milkweed seeds from her through eBay. This connection quickly morphed into a frequent e-mail exchange and a great friendship! I do volunteer design and photography for her environmental education organization, Happy Tonics. For several years, I designed and produced her quarterly 4-page newsletter, Butterflies & Gardens, as well as other marketing materials. I also designed a Monarch Butterfly Habitat Poster for her a few years ago. The poster included original photographs by me and my friends Brian K. Loflin (www.bkloflin.wordpress.com) and Jeff Evans (www.evanimagesandart.com).
I had the chance to visit Mary Ellen in her former home base in Minong, Wisconsin, in August 2011. (Sidebar: at the time I was making the three-hour drive from the Minneapolis airport to Minong, I called Michael and learned that I had just missed a big earthquake in the D.C. area; it was enough to scare both him and our cat, ZenaB, and for a vase to fall off a bookcase and break!). While in Shell Lake and Minong, I visited Mary Ellen’s Monarch Butterfly Habitat and met many of her friends, most notably Diane Dryden, a published author and feature writer for the Washburn County Register. Diane’s novels, The Accidental King of Clark Street and Double or Nothing on Foster Ave., are available on Amazon here.
About a year ago, Mary Ellen relocated to Fitchburg, MA, to be closer to her sister. She talked of slowing down, but I knew she wouldn’t—she’s brimming with far too many ideas! An author and truly dedicated environmental educator, Mary Ellen’s first book, My Name is Butterfly, was published by Salt of the Earth Press in 2011. This teaching book about a little girl and a Monarch butterfly was illustrated by Marie Aubuchon-Mendoza and is available here.
Earlier this year, I assisted Mary Ellen with producing The Monarch Butterfly Coloring Book. Written by Mary Ellen Ryall and illustrated by Moira Christine McCusker, It is available for purchase here. It is published by Mary Ellen’s new company, Butterfly Woman Publishing. Our next project is a plant guidebook, which we hope to debut in 2014. She visited the D.C. area a few weeks ago to attend a three-day conference for the North America Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC). She is presently on a task force to design a smart app called S.H.A.R.E. (Simply Have Areas Reserved for the Environment). This app will allow gardeners around the country to list their habitats on a national map. Mary Ellen blogs about organic gardening and open pollination for diversity on her blog here.
After seeing the portraits I did of her while she was in town, Mary Ellen said, “now I see that I have to go out and buy a new wardrobe!” The outfits she is wearing came from my “modeling rack” as well as my closet. She feels I captured her energy in the shots—and if you’ve ever met her, you know how high-energy this woman is!
P.S. Butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators after bees. Butterflies as pollinators are in trouble too. The Monarch butterfly population is down to only five percent in 2013. The Monarch and other butterflies need native host plants. We need to plant native wildflowers to bring butterflies home. Milkweed is the only host plant of the Monarch butterfly. If you would like to be part of the solution to stop the decline of Monarch butterflies, plant some milkweed seeds in your garden! Mary Ellen sells seed on her website here.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
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Tags: bees, Brian Loflin, Butterfly Woman Publishing, Diane Dryden, Double or Nothing on Foster Ave., environmental education, garden, gardening, graphic design, Happy Tonics, insects, Jeff Evans, Marie Aubuchon-Mendoza, Mary Ellen Ryall, milkweed, Minong, Moira Christine McCusker, Monarch butterfly, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, My Name is Butterfly, NAPPC, native host plants, native wildflowers, North America Pollinator Protection Campaign, open pollination, organic gardening, photography, pollinator, portrait photography, publishing, S.H.A.R.E., Shell Lake, smart phone app, The Accidental King of Clark Street, Washburn County Register, Wisconsin
Categories : Butterfly, Flowers, Food, gardening, Insects, nature, Photography, portraits, publishing, Travel
Photo Posse
Butterfly 5, feel alive!
Take a look at Anasera’s butterfly art and other wildersoul creations on WordPress.
Out of sight is not not of mind
Hello Insectamonarca friends,
Well, I have been on quite a trek. I got to MA from WI after suffering a heat stroke. It had me immobilized in bed for days with chills I was too ill even to dial for help. On June 10, I journeyed over to Turtle Lake, WI, and checked into a hotel. It wasn’t the best experience. Then the shuttle took me to the airport in St. Paul, MN. I had to take two shuttles.
Caught a plane to Chicago where I had to change planes and landed in Boston where my brother-in-law picked me up. I was feeling poorly. Hadn’t eaten all day and had minimum water just to keep my mouth dry. Then the troubles started to kick in. My body shut down. Constipation, rash all over my body. My sister took me to urgent care, then emergency. I had to start a regimin to get my body working again.
I checked myself into another hotel where I could have privacy and a bathroom. All I could eat was yogurt, a cup of New England Cham Chowder, water and ginger ale. I spend days here in my room. My brother-in-law picked me up at the hotel so I could get my hair cut.
I was here to attend my niece’s wedding today and there were all kinds of preperary celebrations, none of which I could attend. I went back to the hotel, only to have a total meltdown from the excessive heat and no air conditioning at the old farm house. Then the crap hit the fan. I started to not be able to breath, I was sick to my stocmach and felt I was going to die.
I called my sister and told her I was in trouble. The front desk called and asked me if I needed help. I said, “Call an ambulence and get me oxygen. I tought I would die for sure simply because I couldn’t breath. I didn’t even have my inhaler. I have COPD which is complicated by excessive heat and humidity.
The ambulance came and the medics gave me oxygen even though I still couldn’t breath. Then I was taken to critical care where they started me on steroids to open my lungs. I received excellent care in critical care and around the clock medical attention. The unknown skin rash is suspected to be possibly linked to Lynn’s disease and infectious disease ran some blood tests to see if it is something serious. In the meantime, I was transferred to the hospital and I plan to go home tomorrow.
This was a real eye opener and I don’t beleave anything happens by coincidence. I realize I can’t live out in WI all on my own with complicated health issues now. There is more to this story. It will take me a few years I suspect to sell the house and property. Mind you, I am completely restoring my antique redroom home which I love. It won’t be a quick move. I am just starting to flutter now and it will all fall into place at the appropriate time.
Meanwhile, my niece was married at 2 pm at Holy Cross College’s Catholic Church. They are all dancing away now at Fruitland’s Museaum and grounds in Harvard, MA. I breath easy knowing I can still flutter in my imagination so I hover around all my family and friends there and know I am in good hands.
This is the reason I haven’t written for wahile. I am now transforming into the next stage of my life. If my friends are reading this Blog, know that I am healing and doing Tai chi and Yoga even here in the hospital. I can always find a quite corner to BE.
Be happy Insectamonarcxa friends where ever you are.
Written at Univ. of MA Hospital, Fitchburg, MA. I don’t have my reading glasses so I can’t check for typos until I go home to my sister’s farm.
Memengwaa Ikway
Butterfly Corner
Ryall, M. E., 23 May 2012. Washburn County Register, Butterfly Corner, p. 7
May 14 – What a day for butterflies. I watched a mother monarch butterfly fluttering low to the ground as she searched for milkweed. She located plants near my kitchen garden. I witnessed the butterfly laying eggs on tiny milkweed plants. When you look closely, one will notice that the butterfly tips her abdomen to the underside of milkweed leaves. More often than not, the air current is less windy close to the ground, making it easier for a butterfly to deposit eggs on tiny milkweed. This wasn’t the only species of butterflies seen. There were Canada swallowtail, black swallowtail, coppers, fritillary, and Milbert’s tortoiseshell butterflies. Monday’s temperature was a balmy 82 degrees Fahrenheit sunny day, a perfect day for butterflies.
May 17 – I was a guest speaker at Mrs. LaFave’s kindergarten class at Shell Lake Elementary School. Children love butterflies. Mrs. LaFave teaches students about monarch biology and the butterfly’s life cycle. One student brought in a deceased monarch to show me. Another student raised his hand and proudly told the class that he had raised a painted lady butterfly at home. I was amazed. He said that he fed the adult butterfly sugar water when it emerged as an adult butterfly. The students have such an interest in nature, be it butterflies, bees, or native plants. We did get a bit off topic when the class wanted to tell me personal bee stories. I found that of interest because bees are suffering a decline. It is wonderful that children are connected to nature and insects. Someday these very children will be the next generation to protect the natural world.
Volunteers met at the Visitors Center in Shell Lake. We talked about the Monarch Butterfly Habitat and ways we are working together to bring this rich environmental land based project forward in the 2012 season. Jim VanMoorleham is going to stain the signs that the Tech Ed. class made at Shell Lake School. Joan Quenan is going to buy some white vinegar to start eradicating invasive spotted knapweed. Yes, it is true. Vinegar kills the invasive species; however, it will kill everything around it too. We are not concerned with killing bird’s foot trefoil in area three along with spotted knapweed. Both plants are replacing native species.
The Monarch Butterfly Habitat is alive with crickets. We saw hundreds of monarch eggs on milkweed plants. Milkweed has finally taken off and there are milkweed plants throughout the habitat. All things point to a bumper crop of monarchs at the habitat this year. We will be marking plants and putting up a “Journey North” butterfly screened tent to view the life cycle of the butterfly. Visitors will be able to observe monarch butterfly conservation in action this year.
The plan is to replant a weeded area with a layer of wet newspapers and top soil from Bashaw Nursery. Thank you, Steve Degner, for delivering the enriched soil. We are getting ready to plant a Three Sisters Garden as a teaching garden. People will have an opportunity to learn about healthy organic native crops, corn, beans and squash. Native seed means that seed originated in the Americas. This type of garden allows nitrogen to be added to the soil to replenish good nutrients that corn depletes. The squash is a natural ground cover and holds moisture. Along with this, the group is planning to plant gourds, within the squash family. Hopefully these will produce future gourd bird houses for the habitat.
Response to Argumenative Article – Letter to the Editor
Last week the Monarch Butterfly Habitat received bad press from a woman who did not understand the purpose of the habitat. Here is a response from Tabitha Brown, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College, Hayward, Wisconsin, USA.
Letter to the Editor, Washburn County Register:
In regards to the letter sent by Laureli Anderson from Cumberland, I would like to say VOLUNTEER. Happy Tonics is run by volunteers. No one is paid and it is run off of donations and grants. If you want to make a difference do something about it that is constructive. Happy Tonics butterfly Garden is a nonprofit run by volunteers and if you want to make changes to it then volunteer time or make a donation. That “nice pergola” you mentioned was a donation, and so were those benches begging to be sat upon. As a volunteer I tried to find local artists to donate artwork to add to the sanctuary. Maybe you would be more successful?
Some of the grants used to run the gardens have strict guidelines. Grants by the DNR or the Forestry service have stipulations where only certain plants can be used at the sanctuary. Why is that you may ask? Because the plants used at the Garden are Indigenous to the area and these plants are what local wildlife need since people destroy their natural habitats by planting “cute little gardens.”
A natural habitat does not look like your manicured garden. It is wild and beautiful in its own way if you take the time to study and appreciate it. I volunteer at the Butterfly sanctuary. I study plants and wildlife at the Lac Courte Oreilles Community college. Prairie habitat has been reduced to 1% of what it once was less than 100 years ago. People mow it down for their gardens, homes, and farms. The wildlife that once called it home is being destroyed. Did you know the habitat of Palos Verdes blue butterfly was reduced to the size of a baseball field? Guess what that town did to the habitat? They turned it into a baseball field. Now that butterfly is extinct in the wild.
Shell Lake is taking huge steps towards environmental awareness. The Organization that supports the Butterfly Garden in Shell Lake also provides festivals, seminars, and education on environmental awareness issues. They promote sustainable living. So next time you visit the habitat keep that in mind. You can also ask for a guided tour and learn about the plants and maybe once you know what they do you can appreciate them as much as I do.
Sincerely,
Tabitha Brown
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