Monday, April 19, 2010

The Totem Returns

Today the dragonflies made their first appearance in the park. I would have missed them if I hadn't listened to the little voice that whispered 'go back the way you came'. So instead of taking the easy path back to the car, Puppy and I wandered the twisting, rocky path that follows the south shore of West Lake. And there they were; the red dragonflies. Over the past few years, I've come to think of the red and bronze dragonflies as the stalkers of the insect world. One will accompany me for a while as I walk the trail. Then it disappears, and is shortly replaced by another. I read today that dragonflies are very territorial. Sound like anyone you know ;)?

Prospect Park
Dragonfly is definitely my totem. My favorite of my three tattoos is a dragonfly.

Denver Botanic Gardens
Dragonflies can fly at speeds up to thirty miles per hour, yet they are very obliging about having their pictures taken. These were all taken with a small digital camera set to 'child', aka 'motion'.



My backyard
Dragonflies have been around for millions of years. There are legends that they were once real dragons; some people call them mosquito hawks because of their ability to catch flying insects.
So beautiful, such a fearsome predator. Delicate wings, crushing jaws. Welcome back.

Pond at Will's old house

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh I like the dragonfly with black and white wings!

Bridgete said...

Mosquito hawks? Blasphemy! Mosquito hawks, to me, are those creepy looking long-legged things that sort of remind me of flying daddy long legs.

Celia said...

Dragonflies are beautiful. If I were to get a tattoo it would be dragonfly. I wish I knew where I could find them around here to take pictures of them like you did. They are wonderful!

KrisMrsBBradley said...

Oh, I love dragonflies!

Anonymous said...

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nefaeria said...

Tis a good totem to have. ;)