BUTTERFLIES MAY BE SYMBOLS... of springtime, and beasties that are as strongly associated with the season as roses and sunbeams, but we here in California know a different side to this topic. It's wintertime when the winged superstars are at the forefront of minds and hearts, and, most notably, in a number of eucalyptus groves along the Central Coast. Which means that waiting for the first buds of spring, to find some butterfly beauty, isn't necessary. (Likewise, you don't even really have to wait for roses, given that those can make a showing in winter, too, in some quarters of the state, and sunbeams are practically year-round.) But if you've been longing to...
BUTTERFLY-UP YOUR WINTER DAYS, and wanting to make a pilgrimage to one of the pretty, ocean-close places that migratory Monarchs favor, you only need circle the first Saturday in February on your calendar, should you want to take part in a special day devoted to the California Western Monarch. The spectacular spot is the Pismo State Beach Western Butterfly Grove, and if you'd like to join a docent talk, and learn more, that will be a possibility. And, surely, why wouldn't you? These fact-filled pros'll know the story behind the thousands of wintering wing-rockers clustered up in the trees. (Yes: thousands.)
WHENEVER YOU CAN MAKE THE GROVE, be sure to do so before the close of February 2019, when another butterfly-tastic season flutters to its final farewell. Find more on this famous grove, its oodles of awesome winter visitors (the butterfly type), and the oodles of other awesome winter visitors who make a pilgrimage to see the butterflies (yep, we humans).
