TAKING WING


places my bike and I could never go. Some miles felt personal, like when the milkweed bor- dering the road ended abruptly, and strewn across the mani- cured shoulder were the beheaded milkweed tops, still green with denial. Hundreds of them held eggs and tiny caterpillars unaware that their home had just been hacked. I wanted to -  Like getting to know a friend, hearing the monarchs’ story        regrow the prairie and reclaim their home. -


weed brimmed in her backyard garden - evidence of how we could share our homes with the monarchs. Milkweed seed- lings sprouted out of tiny, black plastic pots on her porch. She had planted the delicate milkweed saplings as seeds. They waited patiently for Sandy to carry them to their new homes, dispersing them like the wind. Sandy’s milkweed could put down roots in every corner of the city. She was regrowing the prairie one small pot at a time. Growing a resistance and a revolution one garden at a time. Six miles down the road, Amy’s backyard didn’t seem like


 green grass. Yet, to my surprise, in one corner bloomed a retreat of common milkweed (Asclepia syriaca aka my fa- vorite). It was a small garden, yet forty munching caterpillars called its leafy nursery home. Even if just one survived, her contribution to subsequent generations could mean hun- dreds more monarchs down the line. Like a stone dropped in a sea of indifference, each planted


Sandy’s yard, where monarchs feel at home


 New York City


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