The overcast weather meant there were no butterflies in the butterfly garden.
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Because of the coronavirus, outdoor activities have taken on a whole new level of importance. So, while stores are shut down and arenas remain empty, anywhere that can give you something to do outside is flourishing. Luckily, Walpole has Adams Farm.
On Friday night, I headed to the farm to see what everyone was doing and found lots of people hiking, walking their dogs, or just enjoying the warm weather. The first thing I noticed was how many people were sitting on the picnic tables. While nobody seemed to be having a picnic, nearly half the tables had people sitting on them, mostly talking or playing on their phones.
As beautiful as the butterfly garden is, I didn’t see any butterflies. While there were plenty of flowers and blooming trees, the overcast weather was keeping the butterflies away, which saddened both me and another woman with a camera. Even though I’ve been to an indoor butterfly garden, it would have been nice to see them in their natural habitat.
I used to work as a deckhand for a company that ran whale watches, so I understand the disappointment in not seeing an animal you were hoping to in the wild. It was well known that whale watches were miserable: tons of people got sea sick, kids were always trashing the boat (I cleaned so many crushed Goldfish crackers) and the company did everything it could to not refund people if they didn't see a whale. Sea World is awful for whales. Whale watches are awful for people.
The community garden had a few people working on their plants. I talked to one of them, who told me that the garden had put in new gates and gave me a rundown of the rules about not selling produce, and not being allowed to plant something that would shade the other plots.
While I was looking to see if anyone was growing anything especially unique, nobody was. There were tomatoes and cucumbers, sunflowers and kale. Apparently, people used to grow grapevines, but it was decided that shouldn’t be allowed because they grew so out of control.
After visiting the garden, I did a quick hike around the “Monarch Trail,” still looking for butterflies. While there were dogs and bumblebees, again there were no butterflies. When I returned, I saw that there was a board where you’re supposed to write what animals you saw on your hike. There were the usuals: chipmunks, turtles, and an oriole, but someone had written “alligator.” I doubt there are alligators in Walpole, but if you get bitten, you can’t say you weren’t warned.
On the way out, I asked a couple if I could take their picture. They said I could, then posed. When I tried to tell them to look for it in the paper, the man told me they were from Natick, so they’d never see it, but “the people of Walpole can enjoy that one.”
It was an absurdly cocky statement. I kind of hope the alligator ate him after I left.
