Monday, August 8, 2011

Discovering Dragonflies

Isn't this a beautiful creature?

Petting the wings...

Getting a closer look...
Today Daddy and son saw this dragonfly.  Little brother got in on the action too.   It's back was beginning to split and couldn't fly well.  It was magnificent to look at and held still for so long and crawled around on their hands.  We enjoyed studying this ornate creature.  Designed for flight and a meat eater at that! 

Last week I hung an ornate quilt on the clothesline.  I went out to check if it was done drying and reached my hand out to check for dampness.  I placed my thumb right over the back of a dragonfly!  It was big, and buzzing and I did freak out for a few seconds, I'll admit.  My three year old thought it was pretty funny the way Mama was hollering, or should I say squealing... 

Which reminds me, that I should also add under this post that I was attacked by our lone chicken on Saturday!  My three year old also witnessed that with much laughter. 

The dog ran at the chicken and it took off the ground for the nearest safe roost which happened to be the top of my head!  I was on the steps and hunkered down for fear of losing an eyeball!  It landed and all I could feel were cold rather sticky claws digging into my scalp!  At first it was funny and I shouted for someone to get the camera but when no one came and I realized that I couldn't really get it off without a scratch, I was no longer amused! 

Then all I could think about was getting pooped on and so I walked up the rest of the steps onto our porch and opened the front door and hollered, "Mike!  Help!"  In a flash, my knight in shining armor, or possibly a sweaty work shirt, was there.  He promptly removed the chicken while laughing hysterically.  As I write this and look out my window at this hour of the evening, it is still light enough for me to see that this chicken is roosting on one of our daughter's bike seat!

Speaking of adaptions in animals, this chicken breaks all the rules!  So did that Wood Tiger Moth... she layed her eggs on a piece of styrofoam!  I'm glad that God created his creatures with the ability to adapt to new surroundings....

2 comments:

  1. I love dragonflies. They're beautiful to see and they eat mosquitoes! Hmmmm....that reminds me of a Bible verse. Ps 34:7 "The Angel of the LORD encamps around those that fear Him and He delivers them."
    So next time I see those beautiful dragonflies I'm going to remember that God uses them to keep down the number of mosquitoes from taking too much of my blood!

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  2. Oh, I would have loved to see that chicken on your head and seen and heard Mike's delightful laughter! You will both laugh together for years as you both recall that episode! I still remember when you were small and your Grandma (my very proper Mother-in-law) came to visit and one of you left the back door open. Up the hall and into the living room comes a happy clucking contented hen making her debut in front of Grandma as though it was her usual place to strut! Boy, was I embarassed! Then the "Rooster incident"! Peeper the rooster scratched your wrist and you showed everyone saying in your 3 yr. old voice "Peeper did dat!" Ah, the memories!

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