Iremember the day quite well. I went to my Rotary Club meeting and returned to my office in the garden. I casually glanced into the garden as I entered the building. I noticed a sizable group of nature lovers gathered around looking through their binoculars. I asked inside if anyone knew what they were looking at. The answer was a Great Purple Hairstreak butterfly.

Those gathered had just paid $5 to get into the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, where I was executive director. That was the entry fee at the time and worth every penny because you never knew what you might find at this nature reserve on the Rio Grande River. That day the Great Purple Hairstreak became one of my favorite butterflies. I now judge my butterfly year on whether I see a Great Purple Hairstreak or not.

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