Do Animals Play...?

Evocation of Butterflies
Odilon Redon
1911

Yesterday evening I watched a butterfly outside my treehouse, dancing on the wind for at least an hour.  It swooped and fluttered back and forth through the trees, and not once during the whole time did it settle on anything, but rather just sailed through the air with butterfly joy.  Earlier in the afternoon I watched a seagull at Kitsilano Beach, as it swam and bobbed in the water -- all alone.  He was obviously having fun, and I thought I heard him chuckling as he rode the surf.

I do believe animals enjoy a beautiful idyllic day as much as we do.  In the summer, the seagulls can clearly be heard telling jokes to each other, and laughing heartily as they soar through the air, chasing each other.  Their joie de vivre is unmistakable and very real.

The little butterfly last night was having a wonderful time, and as I watched him I was reminded of the poem by Wordsworth that we learned in grade eight.

I've watched you now a full half-hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless! - not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

To a Butterfly ... William Wordsworth