As Cool as a Dragonfly?

   Today was full of chores even though I felt like I should have stayed in bed.  The past week has seen me feeling quite poorly.  The body is getting old and has to have the brain reprimand it sometimes.  "Get up.  Get moving. Get better."  Good thoughts, anyway.  So, I got up canned peaches, did the laundry and swept the floors before daybreak.  Then, it was out to pick plums before the squirrels and coons got them.  Seems such a waste that they will not eat the whole fruit.  One bite and drop.  Frustrating, to say the least.

  While picking the plums, I noticed that the Frog Pond was completely being overrun by the water hyacinths so that became the next chore.  Pull out about half of the plants and compost them.  The pond would be a much happier place after being unclogged.  While there, a blue dragonfly kept flitting about my head.  Finally, it came to rest on the top of a dead branch of the small willow.  By this time, the sun was beating down upon us both.  I was sweltering!  So a break was needed.  Sitting on the old bench beneath the plum tree, I had the perfect view of the dragonfly.  

  Have you ever taken note of how a dragonfly perches itself on a branch?  Usually, the critter is horizontal with wings spread (always) but if the day is extremely hot, they take a different position.  The tail is pointed straight up and at the sun!  Unusual but effective as a method of keeping cool.  By pointing the tail at the sun, it reduces the surface of the dragonfly that the sun can hit.  The dragonfly literally stays cool by "making itself smaller".  Not that it changes size but it reduces the surface where the sun hits.  Smart critter!

 As I sat there pondering heat, dragonflies and chores, it hit me that I needed to get myself out of that heat and get a drink of cooling water.  Perhaps the next chores should be done indoors.  Folks, stay hydrated and cool!  It is hot out there!