February 11, 2012

In late January we were at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California where my husband attended a scientific conference. (Be sure to check the photo album on the Asilomar website). I walked the beach and the boardwalks that wind through the sand dunes, read, wrote for my blog and took scads of photos.

While there, we visited the Monarch Sanctuary in Pacific Grove where thousands of monarch butterflies overwinter. As the day warmed to the winter sun, the monarchs became more active and cast about on the cypress and eucalyptus trees. It was a magical morning.

Now when I see the monarchs and their caterpillars in my garden I’ll have another image in my mind’s eye.

Scenes captured in my garden.

Read about the monarch life cycle, migration, mating, and nectar sources on the Pacific Grove Monarch Conservancy website. John Steinbeck, who had strong ties to the Monterey Peninsula, wrote about the Pacific Grove monarchs in the novel, Sweet Thursday.

Read more about the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary. And if you visit, be sure to stay at Asilomar A Refuge by the Sea.