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Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory July 13, 2013 
Usually on the Fourth of July I watch the Boston fireworks from my rooftop, but this year the temperature topped off at 94, and I felt like getting out of town. My destination proved an ironic choice for getting out of the hot city. I picked Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in South Deerfield. One might reasonably suppose that such a place would be heated and humidified, but, holy cow!, they ought to issue machetes to guests for cutting through the air.
I was in really good humor, though. After getting tickets, as I walked to the entrance, I got a chuckle from the ticket-souvenir salesgal with "It's all-you-can-eat, right?" The first room was filled with terrariums with bizarre lizards, one with postman butterflies (pictured at right), and a number with I-don't-know-what creatures. Entering the main conservatory was like walking into a Disney movie. What fun! All manner of butterflies —though none native or familiar, as best I could see— were everywhere. I took 135 snapshots. "Look at this one!" "Look at that one!" After a while, I felt a need to change out of my soaked shirt but couldn't leave, because this one butterfly refused to alight my companion's arm. She (my companion, not the butterfly) did the watusi, the mashed potato, the Transylvania twist, and the jitterbug, but that butterfly would just not leave so that we could go through the airlock. Finally, an attendant helped, with an ordinary foam paintbrush, and I went out to the car, swapped shirts, returned, and soaked another one before we left. South Deerfield is about ninety miles from Cambridge, but I like driving, and it was certainly worth the trip. I will go again. But probably not during a heat wave. Here are a few of my photos:                                               |