Dragons of the Air..Creatures from the Pond!

It is that time of year again where all sorts of critters are out and about.  The pond is alive with many more squirmy things than the eye can ever see.  Just think of how many critters are beneath your feet every time you wade through any sort of natural water.  This tiny pond is not natural..it is one we made but it has become home and nesting ground to all types of beasts!  One of these "beasts" is the dragonfly larva.  Each summer hundreds of the most interesting insects will slink from the murky water.  They will climb up the water plants until they reach one of the topmost leaves and then start to transform into the elegant flyers that we love!  I am amazed at the ugliness of the underwater version of the dragonfly!  It would most likely scare even the hardiest of souls!  Well..maybe not..since they do not scare me!  Once I learned that these creepy critters would turn into my captivating creatures, I had no fear of them.  Oh..they will bite!  The larvae are quite voracious and will attack anything that moves..including your toe!  (Don't even ask about that!)

As I said, the dragonflies are making their way out of the pond and taking to the air!  Their "sheds" or exuviae are left hanging on the pond plants like some sort of macabre decoration.  The bright, gem-colored adult dragonflies will flit about the gardens and pond for the next couple of months.  During this time, they will mate and life will continue.  I love the dragonflies of my garden!

Then there are other dragonflies.  In the past few weeks, I have been trying to master a new art form!  Using a lot of recycled materials, I create yard ornaments in the form of dragonflies.  Copper tubing forms the body while copper wire (from my broken weed trimmers!!) and glass beads from old costume jewelry make the wings.  The eyes are some glass cabochons that were part of table decorations at my daughter's wedding.  I have made several of these and they seem to be well accepted by those who I chose as caretakers of my art pieces!  My sweet daughter-in-law, Joanna, was given one as a birthday gift.  She assured me that she loves her bug and it now resides in the front flower garden of their home!  I am so honored that she does not mind displaying some of the strange things that I send her!  She is a sweetie!  Another one will go to my honey of a sister!  Susan has worked hard to make a Dragonfly Pond at her place.  She has it nearly complete so for her birthday, I decided to make a copper dragonfly.  Hopefully, she will be just as pleased with it as Joanna is with hers!  (Sorry, Susan..you now know what you are getting as your birthday gift!)

Dragonflies have fascinated me for many years.  Back on the farm, there was quite a large pond filled with the most wondrous things!  Snakes, frogs, fish, crawfish (the Southern way of spelling crayfish!) and of course all sorts of water bugs called this place home!  Of those water bugs, the dragonflies have always been my favorites!  Dragons of the air!