The family that found this chrysalis two weeks earlier checked regularly on its progress. Maybe that was why they were so excited about sharing the news with me – a total stranger who happened to be walking past their driveway – that the butterfly had just emerged. This beautiful monarch (check out the blue in the wings) was slowly working its way to the top of the rock; still orienting itself, it seemed, to its new form. Or maybe it was checking out the upcoming flight plan and was a little shocked – a 2500 mile migration to Mexico ?? Really ???