Tales from my garden.
This is only the kind of thing that a gardener would understand.
So, a week ago I saw a Monarch butterfly chrysalis hanging under the rim of a planter. I kept my eye on it each day, to make sure I didn't disturb it. Two mornings ago I got up early and found the butterfly, emerged, but in distress. It was on the ground, trying to make sense of its new world and not doing well. So I picked it up and put it on higher ground and in reach of the sun, thinking it still needed time for its wings to strengthen. It was a windy morning, and I found it on the ground again minutes later.
Thinking that the little guy's body was still a bit thick, and he still needed time to pump fly juice into its wings (I really have no idea how this works), I put it up on a naked section of a podacarpus. It seemed to enjoy the high ground. So I left and decided that I wouldn't look for it again, since I had interfered enough.
It was hours later before I walked back in the garden. There were at least three Monarch butterflies flying around. The first one I saw could not have been my guy, because the wings looked old. The other two were possibilities. I thought for sure they could not be my butterfly because their agility level seemed very confident. And then one of them flew up and circled me, before hitting me on the cheek. Butterflies have playfully flown over my head, but never have they made contact, until this one, which I would like to think, gave me a kiss of thanks.
About Monarch butterflies, for those who live in Florida. I know that their numbers are threatened. I have seen first hand the kind of things that can go wrong, from a bite from a Tachnid fly and the OE parasite. But each year I have seen a better crop of butterflies, and fewer failures. I say that cautiously, since I found two chrysalis' that were blackened out, and never made it out this winter. Other than that, plenty of successes.
What I owe to my success is allowing milkweed to self sow in my yard. Which means the plants are spread out in the yard, and diseases and parasites don't really reach an infestation point. The only problem is if the plants are close to where you're working. The problem presents itself when the caterpillars finish eating all the leaves on the plant and are looking around for more plants to eat. The dummies kept getting in my way, so I had to transport about a dozen of them to other plants in the garden.
So, Monarch butterflies can be helped through Winter in Florida, and warmer states. Summer might be another story, since nature has a way of keeping success in check.
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I don't know either, but that cracked me up! 
and the wait for the hatch requires a bit of patience.
We are getting a few in the Tampa Bay area and hope this cold snap doesn't affect them . 
