Painted Lady butterfly (image credit: AP Photo/Janet Hostetter, by way of Lawrence Journal-World)

On my way from my car into my office this morning, I got buzzed by a butterfly. Nearly having a beautiful flying insect land on my face pulled me out of my own thoughts and refocused me on the world around me. And I saw two more butterflies land in the freshly-mown grass, wiggle around some, and orient their wings to the morning sun, basking in its warmth.

I tried to take a picture of one, but even the careful approach of a giant, lumbering, bipedal monster spooked it and it flew off. Rather than disturb the wakeup routine of the other butterfly, I put my phone back in my pocket and walked on.

In the three minutes it takes me to walk from my parking spot to the office door, I saw four more butterflies of the same species, flying between trees or leaving their nightly hiding places in the ornamental grass alongside the sidewalk. A little digging on the internet turned up that they were all Painted Lady butterflies.

And for a moment, they pulled me out of my daily worries and stresses and simply made me smile.

The world is a wondrous place for those willing to accept the unexpected gift of beauty given freely by a butterfly.