List of butterflies seen on Saturday:

Mourning Cloak Monarch/ Viceroy Black Swallowtail

Also saw a milkweed plant dispersing winged seed, dreams setting off on voyages. And as fall deepens and trees drop their leaves, the filigree of branches in early morning light against the brick walls grows more and more intricate. And in the distance at the feeder, titmice feed.

Native American languages are divided into six phylum or families. The Cherokees who lived in this area (Georgia), when there was nothing here but deep woods full of flitting deer and mysterious mountain loins belong to a group called the Algonquian. To say hello in Cherokee, say sHi-yo (spelt siyo). The Meso Americans (Aztecs etc) became cultivators and established organized civilizations. The Great Plains Indians remained nomadic, moving with the game (bison) and gathering. Bruce Chatwin proposes in the "Anatomy of Restlessness" that the neuroses that modern society suffers from are directly mapped to the phenomenon of "settling" down. He would have approved of the Sioux and the Navajo and wouldn't have much use to the Incas and their bombastic cities.

However in the end the "civilized" killed both the nomadic and the city dwelling Indians with their civilized diseases, smallpox and liquor. Where that didn't suffice, machine guns did the job as at Wounded Knee. And tens of the "civilized" were awarded the Medal of Honor , the highest US gallantry award for their gallant act of killing a whole tribe, women and children included. But then history is always written by the victors.

A scribbled poem on watching a three year old girl play:

Golden haired child, this walk and twirl, this twinkle and delight, red strawberry juice tinted hands and a bird mouth breaking into high sudden giggles and then suddenly cries! Through you how close do I come to my Divine!