Look closely
This little creature sat amazingly still while I took many photos.
Our York back yard, July 2015
“Look closely. The beautiful may be small.” – Immanuel Kant
Sometimes I choose the photo, and find a quote to go with it. Sometimes I choose the quote and look for a photo. This is one of the times I chose the photo first. It wasn’t easy to choose the quote for it.
When I first considered this quote in connection with the photo, I thought, “The beautiful may be ugly, too.” I can appreciate why so many people are fascinated by dragonflies, but I can’t look at this photo and see pure loveliness. The wings are striking, but those eyes…
The stillness of the insect was beautiful, though, and the memory of how it didn’t fly away as I took photo after photo. The cool serenity of the evening when I was taking the picture was beautiful too; that wonderful glare-free light that bathes everything just before dark settles in. It all comes back to me when I look at this shot.
Today you will be surrounded by small glimpses of beauty; moments and memories that are easily missed. Look closely!
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: beauty, dragonfly, insect, mindfulness, nature, observation, outdoors, paying attention, seeing, small things, ugliness
Defeat Despair 
Good morning Julia, my friend. I hope you’re doing well after far too many weeks have passed since I have shared some virtual time. We had quite the impact from Hurricane Ian last week in Garden City and our coastal area. We are so fortunate that 428 stood strong with our new remodeling and we had little lawn damage. The flooding and damage around us was horrific as the ocean surge breached the dunes and the inlet surge flooded underneath all the homes along its edge. We are safe and blessed in our little cottage on the hill🧡 I think our Verandah is especially beautiful this month and I hope you’re enjoying it! Oh, how many we’ve shared❣️ It’s a beautiful Fall morning here, feel sure it’s the same there. Give Matt a hug and know my thoughts of y’all are often, recalling so much we’ve shared. Love crosses the miles because “The road to a friends house is never long!”
Hi Sheila, I’m glad to know you weathered the storm! Yes, this month’s Verandah is gorgeous, but it would be hard to beat the one from last month…I almost hated to turn the page! How like life. I’m loving that comfy cozy throw on the sofa…<3
The contemplative spirit in me sees the red hues of the hard rock repeated in the red highlights of the dragonfly, tying the beauty of the miniature mountain (Earth) with the lovely living creature resting there (Life). They are apart and yet bound together as part of God and His magnificent creativity.
Your camera perfectly captured the fine markings in the rock and the complicated delicacy of the dragonfly’s wings, as well as her doorknob eyes. I love this photo.
I wondered what meaning is given to this insect that so often appears in art, especially oriental art. So I went looking and found this: https://www.learnaboutnature.com/insects/dragonfly/meaning-of-a-dragonfly/. Very interesting. And the mathematical drawing looks like an engineering diagram. I now see dragonflies in a whole new way.
Well, I’ve spent a much longer time here than I thought I would and it’s been such a nice place to start my day!
WOW, most of that info was totally new to me. I had not ever read much about dragonflies. Although my sister and I recently became fond of a “visiting” Praying Mantis on my deck, prompting a similarly fascinating study on them. We fancied it was aware of us and maybe even trying to interact in some way. And what I read was that this is a fairly common human reaction to them, owing to the fact that, unlike most other insects, the praying mantis can turn its head and swivel to respond to noise or other stimuli. The diversity of creation is a source of continual amazement and delight!