Down the street a ways, there is a parking strip by a soccer field. A half-block long and about 2 feet wide, a wedge of life bounded by concrete, it’s meticulously planted in Things Monarch Butterflies Like. You could be forgiven for not recognizing the theme if it were not for the numerous educational signs. The smooth rocks carefully painted with genus and species names. The poster about the plight of monarch butterflies, and what can be done for them. And, the crowning touch, a mounted box, like a Little Free Library, hung with packets of milkweed seeds instead of books.

This is the skinny rectangular work of someone who cares.

I certainly appreciated the effort. I figured it was mainly educational. There’s a grade school right there, and I visualized a sweet teacher trying to get her students involved.…