More or Less: by Tina Clinefelter

Various people have asked me recently if I thought the butterfly population was down this year and after reflection I have to agree that it seems so. This the first year I did not see a Mourning Cloak as it emerged from hibernation on one of the early warm spring days; the diminutive blue butterfly of unknown species is also on my ‘did not see’ list, and the Monarchs are missing from the butterfly weed and butterfly bush, however there are plenty of white butterflies flitting around the alfalfa fields in front of my house. I am wondering if the very wet spring followed by blistering heat upset the natural rhythm of these beautiful insects’ life cycle…
On the plus side of things, the azure-blue chicory wildflower seems to have gone berserk invading lawns and out-competing the grass for space. It appears that chicory can grow six inches overnight, and after being mowed can flower at much lower heights while the grass doesn’t need to be mowed at all due to its current dormant state. Don’t tell anyone, but I really prefer chicory to grass…
Since moving back to the country, I have been delighted by the abundance of huge, puffy, white clouds that pop up over the mountain ridges almost every afternoon (Joe Murgo –Altoona TV meteorologist, calls them ‘instability ‘ clouds), and the camera is getting a work-out! During my ‘forest-dwelling’ period, my sky was very limited, but here I have ‘big’ sky – most I’ve ever had to be honest, and like most photographers I find a clear-blue sky boring…
In the ‘less’ category I must relate that I have suffered only one mosquito bite this year whereas I am usually the main dish on the lunch buffet. Various factors come into play here: it’s been too hot for mosquito mischief – they are not active at above 85* temperatures; it’s been too hot for me to venture outdoors and there are no mosquitoes in my air-conditioned living room- (first time I ever had an air-conditioned living room) and when I did go out I ‘glowed’ so much that the pest couldn’t get a grip! ‘Horses sweat, men perspire but ladies merely ‘glow’!
Can’t wait for less humidity – enuff sed!
One more subject in the ‘more or less’ department – I am witness to the fact that less men can do more work in less time as long as they have really big machines. I am referring to the ‘Agricultural Ballet’ as performed in the abovementioned alfalfa field on two separate occasions this year so far:



Day 1: one man, one very large machine that unfolded its wings and one hour later the alfalfa was cut off from its life-support system.
Day 2: One man and one huge machine raked the fallen alfalfa into rows while another monster machine scooped it up and swooshed it into a really big truck rolling along-side, with another really big truck waiting on the side-lines to fall into place when the first truck was full. This went on in perfect synchronism until the field was harvested. Impressive – can’t wait to see it again and with the recent rainfall it should be soon! You can almost hear it growing…