Flash of beauty before the decline

Photo by Thomas Hook, who writes that this is  "our first Swallowtail of the season, wings intact and not yet marred and chewed up by aging  in this perilous world.'' 

Mr. Hook, a superb wildlife photographer based in Southbury, Conn., is an old friend and classmate. At our school reunion the other day we heard and saw many things to remind us of the ravages of time, amidst the lushness of May in Connecticut.

-- Robert Whitcomb