chasing a dragon

last night, as i was inspecting my roses for new buds,

i accidentally bumped into this guy,

sleeping in one of my rose plants.

awakened, it quickly flew away.

but, i easily caught it maybe because it was too dizzy to move.

one of my childhood memories is that of chasing dragonflies,
aside from butterflies and grasshoppers.
me and my playmates would go the field, looking for them.
i find the dragons and damsels the hardest to chase.
you should be in "stealth" mode if you want to catch one.

even the slightest movement, they are able to sense,
maybe because we were kids who were very active and haven't got the control that
what we think was our stealthiest quietest movement was not what we think was,
maybe it was those big eyes that were able to see us from behind
or maybe those almost invisible wings and thin frame that makes it faster to glide from one position to another, making it very hard to see in the fields.

 

catching a dragon those days was a big deal.

it gave you the bragging rights.  yes, grashoppers are cool, butterflies are colorful, but the dragonflies were just different..

you could be very popular if you catch a large one.

which made me think, if this was a dragonfly i caught when i was a kid,

i'd be the topic of my playmates conversations, hearing stories

on how i caught THE dragon again and again and again.

but then, i'm a kid no more, only a kid at heart, still chasing dragons whenever i see one,

bringing back childhood memories, playing with them no more,

just taking some pictures and freeing THE dragon.

til we meet again my old friend :)