Whenever I went away to college in the fall, my mother always drove me on the interstate. Each year, at the precise moment we were driving north, Monarch butterflies were migrating south. How did they know the opening date of the fall quarter? Did they read the alumni newsletter? They swarmed toward our windshield, flocks of black and orange wings, heading right for us, swooping up suddenly and sailing over our car. Butterflies soaring over I-75. It was fearsome at first, and then it was magical. I think about it every fall, and in my mind’s eye it remains fantastic and magical.
I remember being afraid of the information superhighway when I first signed up for email. People touted it as magical so why was I netphobic? That was the word I used to describe to my friends how I felt. I feared that the whole world would come right at me through my computer screen and paste itself to my windshield making it hard to see at all.
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If you'd like to read the rest of this essay, it's in the Visible Ink 2019 Anthology. Please visit this page to learn more.