Intermission

Taking a little break from the boating journal; a few days later we had a relaxing afternoon at Julie's...oh, and a yummy grilled chicken fajita supper. But I love her daisies.  They are well-established, doing so well and taking over her front walkway so much that some of them are going to make it over to my house in the Fall.  Yay!

Missy, having a lazy summer afternoon nap and dreaming of bunnies.

Some cooling off in the pool.

Brent providing the dinner music...

and I brought home a pretty bouquet.  Another favorite of mine, I love the orange of the Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa).  The blossoms are among the longest-living of the wildflowers.


It is not shaped like a butterfly, nor does it act like a weed.  Its common name comes instead from its ability to attract butterflies - the Delaware called the plant by a name that meant "where butterflies light."  The bright, rich orange is as striking a color as can be found in a wildflower.  The color and design earned butterflyweed enough votes in the 1940s poll of naturalists and scientists to rank it as the fourth most showy wildflower in North America. 

Butterflyweed has a long history of practical uses.  Many Indians, especially in the South, used the plant as a source of bow strings.  Some tribes, such as the Meskwakis, obtained a red dye from it to use on baskets.  Among most Indian nations throughout much of North America, however, butterflyweed was best known as a source of medicine.  Milkweeds in general are so noted for their medicinal properties that their generic name recalls Asclepius, a mythical son of Apollo, who was called the first great physician.  Asclepius, however, put beds in the temples and converted them into the first hospitals.  As he visited patients, he carried a staff on which sacred serpents were wrapped.  The serpents knew all the secrets of the earth and told him cures for diseases.  Today this staff, called the caduceus, is the symbol of the medical profession.  According to Greek mythology, Asclepius became so good at his art that he could bring the dead back to life.  He thereby incurred the jealousy and wrath of the gods, and Zeus eventually incinerated him with a thunderbolt.  So much for pleasing the boss with good deeds.    ....."Hedgemaids and Fairy Candles" by Jack Sanders