THESE SATURDAY PICTURES ARE DEFINITELY WORTH SEEING LARGER... CLICK ON THE IMAGEAbout dragonflies: Mine is either a meadowhawk or King Skimmer, I can’t tell which. Both are red and look alike except for the the meadowhawk’s tendency to perch with wings held forward. My dragonfly looks more like a meadowhawk, but acts more like the King Skimmer. The pictures of King Skimmers show them to be red, but not as neon-like as the one I photographed in the Davids’ back yard.

Whatever it is, I was captivated all over again today the way I was when I saw them as a child. The name is mysterious... dragonfly. It is a type of insect belonging to the order odonata. In Southern folklore the dragonfly is sometimes called “snake doctor.” It is also known as “devil’s darning needle” and “mosquito hawk.” These wonderful darting, hovering, perching insects are so beautiful they seem unreal, like something created with Photoshop; but what you see in the photograph is what I saw, no computer editing here.