"WHERE THE ANIMALS ARE SERVED FIRST...AND AREN'T ON THE MENU!"

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Dan (as a Dragonfly) Visits the Lazy Vegan!!!


Dan Visits the Lazy Vegan- as a Dragonfly!
Today I encountered either a very fearless & friendly dragonfly or my brother, Dan, visiting AS a dragonfly!! First, the background story: I'd been suffering from a really bad headache all day (starting at 2 a.m., but who needs details?) and I was doing my online homework and thinking about how much pain Dan endured with his back. I'm pretty much tired of feeling any kind of pain after about an hour! It is hard to imagine living with chronic pain like Dan did. Anyway, I was thinking about that and feeling somewhat sorry for myself when I went outside with the terriers and my camera to check up on the donkeys. Almost immediately as I walked out the door, a beautiful blue dragonfly appeared in front of me- I've obviously seen dragonflies on our property before but they always zoom off before I can capture them on camera. The ONLY time I've successfully photographed a dragonfly was when one was temporarily trapped in the window seat area of the living room. Anyway, this particular dragonfly flew a few circles in front of my face and then was either going the same direction as I was OR I was being followed! Because it followed me down to the blackberry bushes by the barn, where it landed on a small branch. I whipped out my camera to document the event. I could not believe my luck- a dragonfly standing still! After taking several photos, it moved sideways as if giving me a profile shot. (Some of my photos came out blurred- but I had enough good ones to be happy). Then at one point I started to think it might be Dan. O.K., admittedly I am ALWAYS on the lookout for Dan in some shape or form- I'm a believer! So I started to talk to this dragonfly as if it WAS Dan...told him I missed him and that I was glad he finally got to see "The Lazy Vegan" (this all going on while my neighbor is not exactly out of earshot, working on his deck). I blabbed on and on and suddenly Dan-the-Dragonfly flew off the twig and once again flew circles in front of my face!!! I don't know if this is typical dragonfly behavior, or WHAT. I took it as a sign. All of this went on for nearly ten minutes, before Dan took off super high by the barn roof and disappeared. When I got inside, I googled "dragonflies/grief" and came up with all kinds of websites. Butterflies are most commonly associated as "sightings", but there are plently of dragonfly stories out there- including one about a woman who lost her daughter and was surrounded by red dragonflies on the way to the service. I found one site where a woman (who also lost her brother) is compiling dragonfly stories, so I emailed mine off with a photo! I don't care what anyone thinks of me (this isn't exactly a newsflash)...I BELIEVE Dan visited me today!

You can't really tell the brilliant blue color from the photo. I always associate Dan with blue, probably because of his blue eyes.

Again, hard to tell from the photo- (I can't enlarge it for the blog)- but this dragonfly had a great expression and I could see the eyes!

Dan telling me to knock off my moaning about a headache and to GET ON WITH IT.
Never tire of this shot.

Goofy donkeys.

Boulder stands watch, 5:30 a.m.
Bravo spots that I've driven up in the driveway (I take my camera with me now- don't want to miss a coyote sighting or whatever!)
Bravo's little terrier head popping into view.
Toby plays indoors.





I'm not sure how many hours the donkeys spend napping, but lately it seems like they are lounging around a lot!


Cute Luigi and ridiculous Paco.






Artichoke!!
All the dogs are really good about getting under the fence...they're farm dogs now!
Squirrel sighting!