Back on 4/29 I posted about my adventures with 'Homer', a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar that happened to pupate on the big cherry tree trunk just outside my front door. The 'fake eyes' and other markings reminded me of the face of Homer Simpson, popular cartoon star.

Some of you readers may be gratified to know that Homer has emerged ! Yesterday (6/13) I went out to check on Homer and found the empty chrysalis. I guess I could've put it in a jar for the winter and seen the adult Homer emerged, but I preferred to leave it outside and take my chances of seeing it. So hopefully there's a big beautiful swallowtail out there in North Everett, dodging birds, showers, rainbows.

The whole metamorphosis process is truly amazing. Imagine going camping with somebody like Homer. You're sitting around the campfire chewing on cherry leaves all night, maybe drinking a little cherry wine . Homer is feeling 'funny' and goes to bed early - crawls into his mummy bag. Still feeling gluttonous , you finish off the cherry wine. It's gonna be a long cold night, so eventually you crawl into your own bag.

You, with your cherry hangover, sleep in late - which is a good thing because when Homer said he felt funny, that was the understatement of the season. He wriggled out of his sleeping bag a shockingly transformed creature. You wake up just in time to see Homer, with bright yellow and black wings the size of sailboat spinnakers, go to the nearby cliff and jump - leaving you holding your bag, cherry -stained mouth opened in amazement, as he flies away.

Jeff Gibson
in tiny Everett Wa