Beginning of the end
As I already wrote in my previous story about the dragonflies that have been living and transforming in our pond for years, several nymphs morphed into dragonflies again this year and I managed to watch one of them from the very beginning to the final stage. Others did so too, as I noticed through their empty shells later but I was either too late or they had decided to sit in a spot I couldn’t reach at all with my camera.
And to think, that these creatures spend most of their existence in the mud at the bottom of a pond just to emerge from there to conclude their life as the beautiful flying creatures they are for only a few more weeks.
Beautiful words from a friend
When I shared my photographs and a short time-lapse movie I had created, a friend responded with the following words she allowed me to share here.
I am in awe
watching a dragonfly emerge,
a fragile miracle unfolding
from stillness into being.
Wings soft and new,
catching the light with quiet urgency,
each moment a step toward life
not yet flight, but promise.
It feels like witnessing time itself
holding its breath,
watching a small life
take its first shape in the world.
There is something sacred in the silence,
the slow, steady work of becoming
a reminder that even the smallest creatures
carry the weight of wonder.
(Teresa C.)
Thank you, Teresa. Your words exactly reflect my thoughts when I watch the process but I would never be able to express them like you did.
It will not get boring
I cannot get enough of watching this process over and over again every year and have hundreds of photographs of it by now. Unfortunately, the nymphs don’t always place themselves in a spot where I can ‘get to them’ with my camera or where the light is ‘good’ or the background ‘suitable’. Yet, whenever I do manage to frame them nicely enough, I am spending hours fascinated by nature once again. And I will most certainly do so again next year.
