The Great Deal

One of the parks I had the opportunity to visit on a few occasions during my Florida trip last fall was ripe with dastardly sand spurs especially in the sandier areas (what a surprise, I know). These little spurs are nubs of jagged spikes; when dried out, they were primed for maximum sticking power – and did I get stuck. At on point in particular I came upon and opening, an intersection of sandy roads. There were little purple flowers growing in the middle and a few of these neat little Blues (Hemiargus cenaurus) flying around. They would land briefly, but I was getting a little frustrated; I finally thought I had a good opportunity, but in my zealousness I knelt down unaware of my surroundings. Well thankfully I was wearing pants, because my knee might not have made it otherwise. As it was, it was quite painful and pulling them out was a pain in the butt itself, with the danger of them sticking under a fingernail. As you can see from the photo above, the butterfly was thoroughly nonplussed (if you will).

The Little Pain

The butterfly photo actually came afterwards. I figured I had to detail the little devils while I was “inspired,” so here is one in all of its spiky, insidious glory (and sturdily if not deeply planted in my thumb). Hopefully I have learned my lesson.