The Sentient Dragonfly

Further proof that dragonflies are sentient creatures: the green ones who are so elusive at the pond decided to send me an emissary. Emboldened by green dragofly success, I decided we needed to go to Richland Creek to see what could be photographed. Answer: lots of bare rock.

The creek is in a bleak state these days. (So much so that we had to go to the river to find water to swim in but that's a blog for another day.) Usually this stretch of creek is knee deep and the hollow tree the boys are posing on below is at least half under water. But I did find a new flower, which I'm still trying to identify. Along with it, I also found the other 25% of the poison ivy in the world; that is the portion not growing in the fields around the pond behind our house. Call me rash, but I just love poison ivy. Hardy har har.

And now, if there are any small children in the audience, you may want to have them leave the room. The last picture is just for adult eyes....

 

Wild damselfly love!



As A General Rule, I Don't Quote Country Music...

But there is a song on the radio right at the moment that's making it so I can't help myself, because it so completely makes me think of home. Yes, indeed, you cross a creek at one end of my road, and I can definitely think of a couple of little shacks. Crickets: check. Frogs: check. But best of all, when the Mark Haley folk are partying, you're likely to hear a banjo.

You gotta go deep  
Way on back  
Cross a few creeks  

And a couple little shacks


















You gotta get lost 
Way on out  
Crickets and frogs 
Yeah you're gettin' close now 
And you kick it into four wheel drive when you run out of road 
And you go, and you go and you go-go-go  
'Til you hear a banjo

...And you might, incidentally, see colorful bugs and... a peacock!?

Yeah... That's where I live.

Last Week I Ruined the Lives of Thousands of Ants

I imagine that most megalomaniacal dictators with delusions of world domination start out this way. They get tired of mowing a tiny, awkward spot of lawn and decide to put a potting patio (hereafter known as a pottio) there. They dig a foundation. They cackle evilly as ants scurry to and fro with eggs on their backs. The pour sand. They notice that they're getting a sunburn on their back. They lay bricks. They realize that the space they are attempting to civilize does not have parallel lines or right angles. They contemplate what madness made them start this project in the first place. Out of sheer bloodymindedness, they perservere. Put down weed block. Lay bricks. Even cut some to make them fit. Pour more sand. Viola! It looks... like an amateur layed brick. Oh well. At least my peas are coming up happily and my Portulaca are finally looking like I put them there on purpose.

After I got done ruining the lives of so many ants and deciding that world domination is probably too much work, Abe and I got ready for an adventure. We had to put on pants and boots because in between us and the pond is a series of fields. And in that series of fields grows 75% of the poison ivy in the world. That's where the adventure part came in. So we braved the wilds to make it to the pond. Every dragonfly in the world was there, and most of them were mating. I didn't take any pictures of that, even though one of the apple green ones was mating with one of the icy blue ones, and I had to wonder what color the babies would be. In fact, I wasn't able to photograph most of the different colors because, as it turns out, dragonflies won't sit still when a black lab is splashing back and forth through the cat tails. But I did get some of them. 

 Plants are better at sitting still for photos, and kids do okay too, so here are some of those.