Wonderment.....

  Ben Franklin once said "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."  I am not sure where Old Ben was coming from with that wealthy bit but the healthy part makes sense.   There are certain benefits to rising early in the morning.  I find I feel much better if I am up before the dawn.  The early rising makes the mornings go smoother without the feeling of being rushed in any way.  Plus!  There are added benefits to rising at this hour.  I can take a mug of coffee to the pier and watch the sun rise above the Bayou. I can feel the coolness of the air and smell the earth while it is still fresh and new.  I can hear the birds as they wake from their nightly slumber.  I, also, can catch sight of critters as they are making their first entrance in this world or are morphing from one state to another.  That is what happened this morning.  

  Just a little after sunrise, I was out back cleaning up some odds and ends of lumber that Son had dropped while building a deck on the storage shed.  He usually cleans up behind himself but, since he was not finished with the job, he had left a few scraps for later pick-up.  I decided to be a tad helpful and clean the area.  This deck is right next to the water garden he built for me last week.  Since it is a bit late in the year to start water cress or water chestnuts, I tossed a few water hyacinths in the pool just to dress it up a bit.  These will be removed at a later date.  It was on one of those hyacinths that I found my daily bit of wonderment.  A dragonfly was just emerging from its nymph stage. It was not yet an adult as it had to unfurl the wings and let them dry. Dragonflies are skilled hunters both as nymphs and adults but at this stage it is at its most vulnerable.  It is helpless to defend itself against any predators that wish to dine upon it.  I, personally, did not wish to eat said dragonfly so it was perfectly safe while I photographed it.

  I watched as the dragonfly pulled free from the useless hull of its nymph stage and then as it fluttered its wings for the first time ever. What an amazing thing to observe!  It occurred to me that not many folks ever get to see such a miraculous event.  Either they are still asleep or are hustling about and never see what nature is doing.  I sure love living on the Bayou.  I sure love getting up before dawn to experience things such as this.  Wow!