Dragonfiles:  I have always adored them.  My personal favorites of course are blue, but since we have gone all organic around our home and yard I have noticed these red guys coming around, and sometimes green.  A few things I have learned while trying to educate myself about them:  dragonflies took to the air long before dinosaurs walked the earth.  They are aquatic; with the families depositing their eggs on the water’s surface.  A dragonfly nymph breaths with gills at the end of its abdomen; so interestingly, the dragonfly nymph’s gills are inside its rectum.  They have excellent vision; nearly 360 degrees.  And they can see a wider spectrum of colors than humans!  Dragonflies are masters of flight, moving each of their four wings independently.  They can move straight up or down, fly backwards, stop and hover, make hairpin turns, and fly forward at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour!  Pretty fascinating stuff!  American author (under the pseudonym) Kim Harrison wrote:

“Go to sleep, baby, Mama will sing.  Of blue butterflies, and dragonfly wings.  Moonlight and sunbeams, raiments so fine.  Silver and gold, for baby of mine …”

Often we do go to sleep after looking at our little pond.  Such a source of magic and joy — with tadpoles, and dragonflies and all sorts of living things.