7.2.10 ~ Connecticut College Arboretum
New London, Connecticut
This is fun, I get to use all kinds poetry to go with my photos… But after this I might run out of new poems to decorate with!
We found a meadow in the arboretum, stunningly sunny and bright. Yes, there were plenty of dragonflies in all colors and sizes. One even had a huge dark body paired with totally transparent wings. Again, the contrast between the sunlight and the shade was very sharp.
Most of my efforts to capture them with my weary camera failed, as I half expected. However, there was one very special BLUE one! And it held still for a very long time. Long enough for me to come to my senses and use the zoom and get a shot. One more click, got it again!
Poking around online I have learned (from Wikipedia) that “the Norwegian word for dragonflies is ‘Øyenstikker’, which literally means Eye Poker.” And that just as people who love to watch birds are birding, ones who love to watch dragonflies are oding. And that “oding is especially popular in Texas, where a total of 225 species of odonates in the world have been observed.” Well, that would explain why Lili gets so many great dragonfly pictures down there!
And magically, yesterday, Paul stopped by with a gift from Linda, an amazing knitted square with a dragonfly knitted right into the design! Paul said it was a pot holder but it’s too pretty and delicate to be used in the kitchen. And it doesn’t have a loop to hang it up. (And I hope I don’t get him in trouble for not delivering it sooner, he said he had carried it around for a few days – or was it weeks?)
Silently a flower blooms,
In silence it falls away;
Yet here now, at this moment, at this place, the whole of the flower,
the whole of the world is blooming.
This is the talk of the flower, the truth of the blossom;
The glory of eternal life is fully shining here.
~ Zenkei Shibayama
(A Flower Does Not Talk: Zen Essays)
A garden chapter of this rambling account should soon follow this post…
Fantastic poetry and photography.
A double whammy. lol
Thank you, Richard!!!
Pretty cool! I really like how the three post follow each other.
Fantastic dragonfly shots. Another of your totem creatures?
I love how you use poetry with your photos…you must dig deep into the well of you memory to find just the right ones. As you know I am a lover of poetry as well and I think your choices are always so gentle, beautiful, calming. I think it must be kind of like a mirror, what you choose…are drawn to…reflect who you are inside.
Thanks for the sharing, you know how much I love to go to the arboretum with you
Thank you for your kind words, Julie!!! (Hopefully there will be one more post today…) I look forward to the day we can meet and take a very long walk together…
Dragonfly must be one of my totems – I love the shape of them, and they keep popping into my life. I don’t know much about them, though, which is why I was surprised to see that the Norwegian word for them was eye poker… Makes me wonder how and why they came to be called that!
Oh, Julie, I have more books in my library than anyone I know… And although I don’t have any poetry memorized, I do remember the gist of many poems and (usually) who wrote them so I can locate them, given a little time. Sometimes I come across an even better poem or quote while I’m looking for the one I originally had in mind. And I’ve transcribed lots of them into my quote collection file on my laptop.
I have worked my way back and forward today to take this journey with you! It is wonderful to experience nature through your eyes…
The poems and photographs are great. We have few dragonfly’s around here but usually don’t stay still long enough. I have some shots from last year.
Continue on your path, walk with your senses open, and allow your heart to take flight! I see my photography link there on links list! Wow Thank you so much!
I am Love, Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff, and thank you, too! Are you dragonfly shots up on RedBubble?
How very nice of the dragonfly to pose for you! And I learned something new today – I had no idea that watching dragonflies was oding!
Thanks for stopping by, Karma! One thing leads to another and it’s amazing what little facts we discover when we start poking around! 🙂
Barbara,
By making the effort to choose your words and images so carefully in a journal, you are truly making lasting memories of our jaunts. When we are walking, I am very much in the moment, and enjoying the experiences. But my recollections fade quickly as different experiences takes their place. I LOVE re-experiencing them through your ideas!
I believe that the purple spiky flower is a liatris. 🙂
I’m so happy you found your way here, Janet!! Thanks so much for your kind words. The caption on the purple flower now reads “liatris,” and I thank you for sharing your knowledge and your time with me. 🙂 That’s one of the primary reasons I write, to remember… Blogging seems like a good way to create a never-ending electronic scrapbook, and it’s wonderful having you in mine!
I’ll have to think of some kind of prize to award you for being the first family member ever to comment on my blog! 🙂