It’s happening, one hundred million Monarch butterflies have taken flight. As of September 11, 2008 they have been reported in the American States of Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.

Every year, beginning in late August or early September the Monarch butterflies begin their migrant journey south. After a few months and several thousand miles later, they will be home, a tiny region, known as Sierra Chincua, in Mexico’s state of Michoacan.
It is here, in the midst of Michoacan’s central oyamel forest, the Monarchs will pass the winter months and mate. In late February or early March, the impregnanted females will begin their Northern return, leaving behind the males to die in their Mexican home.

The journey of these butterflies has been believed to have been repeated annually for thousands of years. The miracle of the Monarch migration is not just in the distance traveled by this fragile species, but in the their knowing. A Monarch has a lifespan of very few months, yet without the experience and guidance of past generations they continuosly return to Mexico.

For many Mexicans, including myself, the Monarchs are a much deeper, spiritual and patriotic symbol. They represent the worthiness and beauty of our nation, while fully knowing it is here, in Mexico, we will eventually, cease all future journies.

With our nation’s turmoil, corruption, violence, and death, the Monarchs have still found us worthy of a new miraculous journey. Their willingness to once again bless us with their return has created a sense of calm throughout our nation. We have survived and will contiue yet another year. The year the Monarchs fail to come home will be the year Mexico no longer has hope and will cease to exist, alongside them.