Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 Week 39

 

Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 week 39 September 20-26 

This was an eventful week - still mourning the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsberg,  on day 2 of early voting period, we masked up, drove to city office and did our civic duty.  We were very impressed with the arrangements,  professionalism and thoroughness with which early voting was made possible - the experience was the same as if we had voted on Election Day. This year of course there were extra precautions due to the pandemic- plexiglass barriers, social distancing to be maintained and sanitized pens.  

The other highlight of this week was waiting and watching the emergence of the Monarch Butterfly from its chrysalis. As the day came closer, I could see the colors deepening, the gold lines and dots shimmering brightly and orange/black patterned wing showing through the chrysalis shell.  Early Friday morning we watched in awe as the butterfly gently broke open the shell, crawled out of the cocoon, took its time warming up the wings and took to the open skies. I wondered, will we see it’s progeny come back to our garden next year ? 

Monarch Chrysalis by Meera Rao 

Photograph of Scrarecrow  hat worn in the Wizard of Oz , 1919, now in the collection of National Museum of American History graces the page for the week in the Smithsonian Engagement Calendar 2020.  The scarecrow in the story desperately wanted a brain and as I was sketching I wondered what happens to the caterpillar brain during metamorphosis. Does the butterfly remember its caterpillar days?  I came across a study done at Georgetown University scientists D.Blackiston, E.Casey and M. Weiss, which examined if larval experience can persist through pupation to adulthood in Lepidoptera. The study showed that yes, they did remember and carry over a conditioned odor aversion into adulthood ! Please check the link to check out the details of the study.