Yesterday John and I had 4 Monarch butterflies to release. John just said "4 on the 4th"! When John was filming the 1st butterfly release, he didn't realize his camera was on so when I was ready to release my 1st butterfly, he actually turned the recording off! Butterfly #1 and butterfly #2 flew away immediately. Butterfly #3 and #4 stayed for their photo opportunity!!
This morning I won the bet. John predicted that more Monarch chrysalises would eclose on July 4th. I thought more would eclose today. We had 10 chrysalises yesterday. Today there are only 4 left to eclose. All of the butterflies are female which is nice because most of my prior releases were male. The following video shows each butterfly being released! Some flew away immediately while others remained in our garden for a short time.
Geralyn and I saw the Temple of Venus and Roma (from the top of the Colosseum), thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. The temple remains are located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum. This temple was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix ("Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune") and Roma Aeterna ("Eternal Rome").
Geralyn and I visited San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains). This church is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy. It is best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II. It was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432–440 to house the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem, the episode called "Liberation of Saint Peter".
This morning John and I found our first butterfly of our current brood had eclosed. There are eleven more chrysalises left. After allowing the butterfly to dry its wings and rest, we released a beautiful, big male butterfly!
