A Beautiful End
Death Valley National Park
Jennifer and I spent a lot of time exploring Lake Manly while it was around this season, walking for miles across the salt flats. We came across all sorts of interesting things out there, but finding this Eastern tiger swallowtail was unexpected. It was so far from where you'd normally see one. It looked like it had gotten lost and landed in the brine, a tough end for such a delicate creature. The salt had already started to crystallize on its wings. There was a strange beauty to it, though. Its bright yellow wings stood out so vividly against the pale, textured salt. It was a sad sight, but a beautiful one at the same time, a small, colorful life preserved in the vastness of the desert.