This year the desert received so much rainfall, that the valley was covered in thousands of Painted Lady Butterflies for around a week. There were so many, flying so fast, that it was impossible to get a good photo.

I joked with my friends back home that this was a sign, that spring was coming, after a terrible winter. Sure enough, when I was on the road north of LA, a week later they were there.

Painted Lady on our desert patio.

The other evening, a monarch flew into our garage, flew right to my husband's finger and landed. It stayed for at least a few minutes, and didn't appear to be afraid. I'd never seen that happen before. Apparently, it means someone is visiting from heaven. My guess is that it was his sister.

Monarch:

Photos by me.