Guest Blogger Hermien Pellissier: Journey through Time
It was a Friday. If you didn’t know any better, you might think it was just a normal Friday. As usual I was at home, with my timetable carefully organised so I never had to teach on Fridays. Tilly and Scotty, our two Schnauzers, were playing in the garden. Scotty was on the lookout for anybody he could bark at, while Tilly was lounging in the shade. The golden dewdrops (the purple flowers in the photo) were still in bloom. It was only the end of March afterall, and the days are still warm here in South Africa that time of the year.
But that was the
day when everything changed.
It was 27 March
2020 – the first day of the level 5 lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. We
were restricted to our homes except for essential shopping. And nobody yet knew
how bad the pandemic would get or how long it would last. Suddenly the garden
was our whole world as far as physical exploration went.
On that first day
of lockdown, when I took the photo of our two sweet Schnauzers, I knew I had to
share it with the world. It was a way of documenting the beauty of living
despite the uncertainty. It added a little joy to the world. And it was a way
of proclaiming that I am still here, alive, and well.
Those first few days,
I had a lot of free time. And I spent quite a bit of that time in the garden
with my camera. I really came to appreciate the golden dewdrops since they are absolute
butterfly magnets. It was quite a warm winter, and there were still a few
purple flowers until the beginning of July.
Looking back on my
photographs from the summer months before lockdown, I got only a few butterfly
shots. I am sure the butterflies were there all along. But now I realise I
never slowed down enough, spent enough time just watching, to really appreciate
them.
Besides finding extraordinary beauty, studying the small ecosystem that is our garden has been so rewarding. It has given me the smallest glimpse into what it must have been like to be a Renaissance scientist, spending one’s entire life documenting butterflies or birds or reptiles. I can’t imagine how one would observe butterflies well enough to make good sketches without a digital camera though.
Of course, I have
relied quite heavily on the internet for much of my butterfly knowledge.
Especially this
brilliant free e-book by the South African National Biodiversity Institute,
without which I wouldn’t have known that the butterfly above is called a
two-pip policeman. But there were also moments of pure discovery.
Most butterflies
seem to prefer warm, sunny days. I am quite thankful for that because it helps
to get vibrant photos. The exception is the policeman butterfly. I usually see
these on cooler days, or later in the day. Or in shady spots where it is much
harder to get good photos…
I love painted-lady butterflies, because of their commitment to the flower that they choose. Unlike the African migrants or even worse citrus swallowtails that flit from flower to flower, a painted lady typically picks a flower and stays there for a good long while. Posing for the camera– wings open, wings closed, and from every angle. I can see how the painted lady name came about.
When the last
purple flowers finally fell from the trees, and all that were left were those golden
berries, it was also the end of butterfly season. Birds became the focus of my
observations. Partially because there are birds like this speckled mousebird
that love the berries. But probably mostly because I was no longer distracted
by pretty butterflies.
Days stretched into weeks, then months and years. Restrictions came and went. Pandemic waves came and went. But the one thing that stuck was the tradition of posting at least one photo a day. Of making time to find something beautiful to share.
About Hermien Pellissier
Hermien is an
instructional designer and teacher who loves travel and photography.
Connect:
- Website: pellissier.co.za/hermien-photos/
- Instagram: @hermienpellissier
Comments
Post a Comment