Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.
~ Albert Einstein
If I had to pick a favorite insect, I think it would be the dragonfly or damselfly. I often wonder if they are related to the fae. Their wings shimmer jewel-like in the sun, and sometimes I swear the little damselflies who live in the woods really are faeries, but our human eyes see them as damselflies.
Dragonflies remind us that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. ‘Let there be light’ is the divine prompting to use the creative imagination as a force within your life. This is part of what dragonflies and damselflies teach us.
~ Ted Andrews, Animal Speak
I captured the dragonflies in this post in Ohio at Breezy Acres where they know me and don’t seem to mind posing for a photo or two. It’s different here at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch. I do manage to capture one occasionally, but we’re all just getting to know each other so it might be a while before they welcome me into their realm for a photo session or two.
Life is never quite the way it appears, but it is always filled with light and color. Dragonfly can help you to see through your illusions and thus allow your own light to shine forth. Dragonfly brings the brightness of transformation and the wonder of colorful new vision.
~ Ted Andrews, Animal Speak
As I look at these images, it occurs to me that I have never bothered to print any of my dragonfly photos for myself. I would love to somehow incorporate dragonflies into the decor here at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.
The dragonflies are the last of the images from my visit to the Bogs a week or so ago. The butterfly brings us back to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. (In an odd aside, I always want to pronounce that Mary, as in the name Mary, plus land. I know that’s incorrect. I do it in my head anyhow.)
No post on butterflies and dragonflies would be complete without a few flowers.
The Black-Eyed Susans are just about finished with their season here at the Ranch. The Queen Anne’s Lace is beginning to turn brown. There are other flowers popping up here and there.
Someday I will learn their names. And then promptly forget them. I don’t know why, but names just don’t stick in my head for some reason. That’s as true for people as it is for flowers.
That’s it for today. Thank you so much for stopping by. I went out for a bike ride this morning, braving the heat and the humidity and the insects. The deer flies don’t seem nearly as numerous. Perhaps their season is coming to an end. The heat, however, will continue unabated for at least another week.
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂
breezes at dawn 
Beautiful photos, Robin!
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great critter shots.
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Amazing shots Robin!
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You had me with the first dragonfly image. Beautifu!
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I always love your dragonfly pictures … you have very unique and colorful ones (mine are almost all the same black ones). Hey, you got your butterfly pictures … see I knew you would.
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Amazing Dragonfly shots, wow! Love the butterfly and flower pics 🙂
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It is amazing how you have managed to capture these small creatures.
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Lovely – great shots!!
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You have hummingbird moths!! How cool! We used to have them in Iowa, but I didn’t see them anywhere else until Colonial Williamsburg last year. Unfortunately, you know what else they bring – tomato hornworms. Yep, that’s where the hornworms come from.
Those dragonfly shots are awesome – you did a great job getting them.
Nancy
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Wonderful shots. I just mentioned to someone else that I love dragonflies but I don’t often get the chance to see them. Then I clicked on your post. Fate I tell you.
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I’ll never look at dragon or damsel flies in quite the same way again. I used to be a bit afraid of them because I’ve been told they can sting.
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Thank you all so much for your lovely comments! 🙂
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I always love your dragonfly photos. You should do a dragonfly collage (you’re so good at collages!) and enlarge and print it. That would make a lovely piece of art.
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Thank you, Karma. Maybe someday I will. 🙂
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Magnificent! I have tried and tried to catch dragonflies to no avail, and so I was looking at your beautiful photos and wondering how you did it. Then I read your narrative and realized that maybe I need to more often frequent the pond where I have seen so many dragonflies. Your butterfly and flower pictures are lovely as well, and I know how hard it is to catch any flying insect in a photo — you have certainly got the knack!
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Thank you, Becky. 🙂 Dragonflies (and damselflies) are actually quite easy to capture (photographically speaking). They fly in patterns. The trick is to find a place where dragonflies like to land (a stick, a blade of grass, a tree branch or leaf, etc.). Stand still, be patient, and watch. Eventually you pick up the pattern and can be ready for a landing. 🙂
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I will have to watch them more often, then, until I get the hang of where they like to hang, lol — thanks for the tips, Robin!
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