How is time like butter?

They both fly.

That was bad, but I make no apologies. Seriously, though, the last few days of summer are slipping through our fingers. Pretty soon we will all stop complaining about the sweltering heat and drenching humidity and start complaining about the bitter cold and (dare I mention it?) snow of winter. Sure, there’s the brief interlude of Fall/Autumn/Pumpkin Spice Season, but I’ve always thought of Fall as the Sunday of seasons. It’s great and all, but there’s the constant knowledge that Monday (Winter) is coming that kind of ruins it for me.

So join me, as we bask in the last few rays of sunshine before the leaves start falling, the snow starts falling, and the politicians start politicking. You’ve already seen that I love birds, but what you might not know is that I also really like bugs. Since I know that etymology isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I figure I can find some common ground on one of the few bugs that we can all agree are awesome: butterflies. And summer in Richmond means the Butterflies LIVE! Exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

Butterflies are a lot like birds, when you think about it. They both have wings and enjoy flowers. They both start off as small little worm-like things that eventually build a small shell for themselves, liquefy themselves, and then emerge as brightly colored winged creatures before they have to manually assemble their own nose (proboscis) in order to eat… Ok, maybe they’re not that much like birds, but I still think they’re really cool.

For a mere $12 for adults or $8 for children 3-12 (free for members!) you get both the awesome experience of the number 2 public garden in North America (as voted by readers of USA Today), but you also get to be surrounded by a collection of brightly colored butterflies from around the world and their not-as-bright-but-still-really-cool moth cousins. Hurry, the exhibit ends October 11!