On a day that celebrates rebirth, I feel it only appropriate to share one of the things that always makes me happy: butterflies. I’ve always loved them, but they took on new meaning for me when my mom got her renal cancer diagnosis three years ago.

She’s still fighting on and inspires me every day. It doesn’t hurt that she’s got this weird sense of humor that is awfully familiar …

What really should be the mascot for copy editors, the comma butterfly.

A little wood satyr tries to blend in.

A common buckeye catches some rays.

A dogface butterfly (I’m pretty sure) sups on thistle.

A fiery skipper pays a visit to a butterfly bush.

A purple admiral suns itself on a bed of gravel.

Skippers queue up for nectar from a wild hibiscus.

A swallowtail in the grass in a very rare moment of stillness for this particular butterfly.

A skipper perching atop a thistle.

A red admiral rests on a leaf.

A gray hairstreak alights on spent daisy blooms.

A hackberry emperor preparing for takeoff.