1. Our neighborhood was filled with monarch butterflies last week. “More monarchs are expected to fly through Austin than have in 10 years,” says a report from KUT. “Thanks to exceptionally good weather up north, where monarchs lay their eggs during the summer.”
Monarch butterflies are making their way through Texas to wintering spots in Mexico…. Think of Austin as a rest stop for migrating monarchs. Just as you need to fill up your tank when you drive down I-35, monarchs need to stop to eat. In the fall, they fill up on the nectar of certain flowers; in the spring, it’s milkweed they need to lay their eggs on. Austin adopted policies to grow milkweed in the spring and summer and encourage the growth of native pollinator plants.
2. Flying from Austin to Los Angeles this week, I watched Won’t You Be My Neighbor? At the beginning of the documentary, Fred Rogers is shown sitting at a piano and talking about modulation — a fancy word for changing keys. He shows how some key changes are more difficult than others — C major to F major is pretty easy, for example, but F major to F# major not so much. He felt that his job was to help children through the modulations of their lives.
3. Migrations and modulations. Movement and change. “Maybe I’m trying to combine things that can’t be combined,” Fred Rogers says to the camera. “But it makes sense to me.”
