Cleveland November Part Three

There was some interesting philosophy in the rose garden.

But the nice volunteer at the entrance had urged me to see the indoor glass houses as well. They were divided into two parts: Madagascar and Costa Rica.

Costa Rica was hot, humid and misty. Butterlies were flitting everywhere, landing on the tropical plants,

Every sprig seemed to have a butterfly on the end of it.

And there seemed to be one on every leaf too.

While strange plants

Loomed out of the mist

And mini-waterfalls plunged and splashed

Here in a glass case was an Amazon milk frog

And the brown blob about a third of the way down was

Guess what...

At least it wasn't a redneck tarantula. Got to keep up standards.

More atmospheric jungle flora.

You wouldn't think you were in the middle of an urban Cleveland park in November.

Here were some butterfly chysalises in a case. They looked like tiny hanging umbrellas - each one different.

But this was the best bit. Butterfly release time.

They were still sleepy and not too keen on leaving their travelling case.

The guide placed them delicately on watchers' hands

And sleeves

Where they sat for a while, unsticking their wings, until finally flying off. A butterfly's first flight was a fine thing to see.

To be continued...