Getting the Hang of It — June 21, 2013
The Halloween Pennant dragonfly gets its name from its colors, orange and yellow with dark brown markings that look black, and its penchant of clinging to the top of a weed stalk and waving in the wind. The Nassau peninsular is filled with a huge variety of dragonflies. These remarkable creatures have an interesting life cycle, which I’ve mentioned before. They spend years in the water as nymphs, and emerge to metamorphose into the adult dragonfly only in the last stage of their life – as short as four or five months.
But not that different than us, really. Of course, we don’t spend years in the water, but much of our younger years are consumed with family, careers, and trying to be what other people think we ought to be. It’s only later in life, it seems, that we finally discover who we really are, and get comfortable in our own skin–just in time to take on wings, throw caution to the wind, and live the life we love.
Had the pleasure of coming upon a group of young killdeers, which are fun to watch as they run around on their long stilted legs. Killdeer hatchlings are precocial birds, which means they are able to move around right after hatching. The young birds I saw today are old pros at foraging and getting around.
Green Thought: A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. – Walt Whitman