Butterflies sometimes park themselves in mud puddles or on the wet sand just out of reach of the waves. While flower nectar supplies most of a butterfly’s diet they also need the minerals and salts they take in by sipping moisture from puddles and moist soil. Entomologists unceremoniously call this behavior “puddling”.

 

The puddling butterfly came to mind recently when I was reading a very worthy tome and found that I had reread the same sentence several times without comprehending a thing. Better, I thought, to hover elsewhere for a time. Sometimes I know I need the sustenance of wordless things to feed my soul.