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31 SPRING 2025 touch them. You have to just stay still until they're ready to leave you." In fact, much of her time in the sanctuary was quiet introspection while listening to the sounds of wings flapping. "It's a hibernation of sorts for the butterflies, but they aren't inactive," she says. "They fly to streams to drink. They keep their wings open for warmth from the sun." At night, there were lectures from entomologist and adventure leader Court Whelan, author of The Monarch Migration: A Journey through the Monarch Butterfly's Winter Home. He calls the monarch's migratory pattern one of the most highly evolved of any species: "When it comes down to the impressiveness of a species, this takes the cake." Back home, Campbell-Rush is eager to talk to anyone about her trip who will listen. She's brought her photos to assemblies at elementary schools and to community centers. She urges people to plant milkweed and delights in the fact that, by mid-March, she had already seen a monarch fluttering in her backyard garden. It's not an impossibility that it was one she saw in Mexico. "I hope a whole new generation will love and appreciate the monarchs as I do," she says. "I get to spread the magic." ■ Vivian Shih is a Taiwanese-American illustrator who cherishes quiet moments and strives to depict them in her art. Her work has appeared in digital and print media, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and NPR. "THE BEST THING WE ALL CAN DO TO SAVE THE MONARCHS IS TO PLANT MILKWEED." — Peggy Campbell-Rush

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