A little gratuitous beauty

I think it's time for a little gratuitous beauty today. 

This year on Roundtop is a great one for the large swallowtail butterflies.  I've seen Tiger Swallowtail, like this one, all over the place.  Pipevine Swallowtails are also not in short supply.  The smaller or medium-sized butterflies I am not so sure about.  Perhaps it's just not their year. Perhaps the large swallowtails like the extreme heat on the east coast this year.

This morning I heard that this July is already  the third hottest since record-keeping began in the Harrisburg area.  Suddenly, I don't feel like such a wimp for thinking about buying an air conditioner.  This July is also close enough to the #2 slot for the hottest-ever July that there's a chance 2010 will end up there.

  With heat like this July has given us, a little gratuitous beauty is much needed.  Enjoy!