Maybe it all was for us to experience the beauty of a human dedicated to interpreting it for us. Perhaps to get to know the Butterfly Lady, was a good enough reason. There she is, going out into the forest everyday, as a volunteer, paid by some inner meter, and sharing some wonderful insight about nature with some uninitiated visitors, who surely will be touched for the better by the experience. S teinbeck, a former resident of Pacific Grove, and who spent significant parts of his life here, mentions the return of the Monarch in Sweet Thursday , and the critter has become a part of the Pagrovian conscience. They come in late October, and it is a joyous experience.
School children have a parade, and come dressed up in butterfly costumes.
They like to call these Butterfly Gardens. It is magic. I n a park by the beach, there's a sculpture of a Monarch. Signs warn motorists of butterflies crossing. Many of the town's 13 community parks are favorite hang outs of the Monarch, but one is a Monarch Grove Sanctuary.