'The Monk and the Butterfly Counter' Wins Essay Contest

Waving switchgrasses foreground the abbey church at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, located within the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area in Conyers, GA. Father Francis Michael Stiteler's red truck is shown at left. Having lived at the monastery for over fifty years, Father Francis Michael has served as the Abbot and most recently as the Land Manager. (photo by J. Goodall)

There’s a special place east of Atlanta, 40,000 acres filled with rich natural, cultural and spiritual history: the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. Given this designation by Congress in 2006, it's home to glistening granite outcrops, winding creeks, waving meadows, former quarries, historic schools, extensive paved walking trails, a town formed by emancipated slaves still thriving to this day, and a monastery started during WWII.

My essay about the annual butterfly count at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit recently won Arabia Alliance's first Field Note writing contest! The story pays tribute to life-affirming lessons I've learned in the Heritage Area over the past several years, particularly with the Georgia Beloved Naturalists program at Arabia Mountain and a couple retreats I've taken at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. The heart of the essay emerged from time I spent with longtime conservationists Susan Meyers from Monarchs Across Georgia and Father Francis Michael from the monastery.

Visit Arabia Alliance’s website to learn more about sites across the heritage area, check out their recently-published history book, and donate to their nonprofit—which stewards, educates and connects people to this fascinating and unique area. In addition to reading my essay, can also read a few more by the youth winner and two runners-up.

Read the Essay

This Images of America book series entry about the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area was published this year, collecting over 200 historic images and interviews with people who have lived and worked in the Heritage Area for generations. The authors work for Arabia Alliance, the non-profit that manages and advocates for the Heritage Area. (photo by J. Goodall)

See below for an excerpt of 'The Monk and the Butterfly Counter:'

---

It was a blue-skied autumn afternoon when I parked in front of the slate-gray retreat house attached to the majestic abbey church, which the monks built in the 1950s. After acquiring the property from the silent film actress Colleen Moore during WWII, a contingent of Trappist brothers moved south from The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky to Rockdale County, establishing an unassuming rhythm of prayer and farming (though in 1944, TIME magazine featured them in a tongue-in-cheek profile).

I found Father Francis Michael in the lobby on his hands and knees, scouring the carpet with a magnifying glass and flashlight for a tiny, runaway beetle he had collected that morning. When he stood to greet me, I was surprised to find him wearing a pale green polo shirt, khakis and sneakers. He led me out the back doorway, where his small, red pickup truck was parked. After clearing out some CDs and food wrappers, he invited me aboard.

We drove down a dirt road to a fenced garden where the final autumn blooms were fading. Soft-spoken, he seemed embarrassed that the pollinator garden was unkempt. Even still, he identified the iridescent amber wings of a fiery skipper.

We drove past the stand of pine trees the monks used to sell for timber, stacks of multi-colored beehive boxes, and one of three ponds that drain into each other before flowing to Honey Creek. Out his open window, he pointed at an orange gulf fritillary, telling me its host plant is a passionflower. He shared these connections readily, without an air of superiority. When he called out a variegated fritillary, I couldn’t see it, but I believed his muted enthusiasm.

Father Francis Michael has logged over 4,500 animal, plant and insect observations on iNaturalist, more than any other user in Georgia, including a hundred butterfly species. I was amazed at the wealth of diversity he had witnessed on the monastery grounds.

Read the Rest of the Essay

A Black Swallowtail butterfly on a zinna flower, as seen at a community garden near the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. Susan Meyers from Monarchs Across Georgia helps educate about the value of planting even small native flower gardens to help provide habitat for crucial pollinator insects such as butterflies. (photo by J. Goodall)

I had the opportunity to read a segment of my essay at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, with Father Francis Michael in attendance (not pictured). (photo by B. Goodall)