A few days ago I posted a picture of our local butterfly invasion. At least, that’s what I said it was. But really, I could have just taken a blurry picture and added a few blurry white streaks to it. How would you know? But the butterflies were so intent on migrating that none of them stopped so I could get a better picture.

As it turned out, the butterflies kept on coming. However, it looks like we’re finally at the tail end of things, and apparently the stragglers are either tired or confused or hungry. Or, maybe the daisy patch I found yesterday was just too entrancing to pass up. Either way, the Painted Ladies decided to rest for a bit on the daisies, and I was able to get some very nice pictures of them. The first photo shows the coloring and marking on the top of their wings. The second photo shows the markings on the underside of their wings.

March 17, 2019 — Irvine, California
March 17, 2019 — Irvine, California

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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