Dragonflies: Veggie Share Week #14 – 9/6/23

Dragonflies

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed some new friends flying across the fields: dragonflies.

They seemed to like the high heat especially.

At first glance I would see one or two. But If I stopped and really started looking, suddenly dozens would come into my view.

It reminded me of how you look at one star and then another, and as your eyes adjust, suddenly you can see so many more.

Same with the dragonflies!

I pointed it out to the girls one afternoon. At first, their eyes couldn’t focus in on the insects. Once they could see them, we laid on our backs and started counting them as they flew over our heads. I think we all got bored once we hit sixty-five and there was no end in site.

Another afternoon I pointed it out to my crew.  They stopped, and I smiled as I watched them notice one and then two and then…. hundreds. One of the crew members said they felt like it was a spaceship invasion. (I thought of the old school video game Galaga, but this person was in their twenties, so my reference didn’t connect!)

I have no idea what kind of dragonflies they were.  This does not take away the magic of seeing them fill the farm skies.

The dragonflies are gone now. I mean I see a couple throughout the day in a more normal way, but dragonflies like stars in the night sky – that fleeting gift has passed.

It is these kind of gifts that bring joy to farming. Dragonflies like stars.

Next season I will be on the lookout for them, and hope to learn more about the mysterious dragonflies that filled the skies for a few days.

Farmer Cassie