The Artful Trade

Monarchs “There are no straight lines in Nature,” Vane told me.“And all living things are trying to get somewhere else.” I was proofing an article on migration patterns for the scientific journal. Dr. Elias Vane, was a leading entomologist. A bug guy and one of the world’s foremost experts on migration. “Think whales routes and cattle drives.” “Old couples go to Florida each winter,” I said. “Exactly,” he said. “You see, we all have migration patterns. Repetition so deeply ingrained that all living things carry, but remain hidden even from themselves. Most of these paths can be understood by simple observation,” he said. “But sometimes even science cannot fathom what secret routes are in play. What ancient hungers and worries…what desires and fears…drive living creatures.” “For example?” I asked. “Take the monarch butterfly,” he murmured in measured tones. “Every year by the millions, monarchs try to escape the cold. They make an annual flight from central Canada to Me...