Dragonflies
Among many things in my life that I am obsessed with, insects are one of them. Dragonflies hold a special place in my psyche. I am not obsessed in a Trekkie kind of way, I am obsessed in the way that while they fascinate me with their beauty, they also scare the crap out of me. I am not a fan of insects, even beautiful Dragonflies.
Point in fact: one morning say, about 10 years ago I was watering my garden before heading to work. I enjoyed this task in the early morning as it relaxed me and prepared me for the onslaught of name calling awaiting me at the Cashiers window at the local community college where I worked. Upon completing my task, the Pug and I walked around the corner to the front door of my house and I stalled. There on the screen to the door I needed to open was a big beautiful Dragonfly. Did I say big? I mean absolutely HUGE. It was a reddish purplish color, it was beautiful and it wasn’t moving. I thought that maybe it sensed my gargantuan figure approaching and it would fly off towards my head, I would scream and run, but all would be right with the world. Or possibly we could communicate by telepathy and he could hear my chanting of “please fly away, please fly away.” But it didn’t move. I tried taking the broom from the porch to shoo it away, but it wouldn’t budge. I was trapped. This insect, beautiful as it was, but insect none the less was fixed upon my screen, just inches away from the handle, a handle there was no way in hell I was attempting to touch with those legs and wings and eyeballs so close, no way! I decided I would just go around to the back door to get inside, maybe jiggle the screen from the inside and off Senor Dragonfly would go, no dice, the back door was locked. I was good at being consistent and locking my doors from the unsightly burglars that may want to steal by beautiful turntable or my aging arthritic Pug.
Back to the front yard I peered around the corner to the front door; he was still there. I racked my brain for ways to get him off the screen, the hose! I could lightly spray the bugger and he would fly away. Well, I did, he did, but he flew straight towards me and then, with his Dragonfly ability, flew directly back to his spot on the screen. I don’t know, maybe with the desert heat, even in the early morning, he found solace and peace on my screen, but he wasn’t moving. His place on my screen was as solid as Gibraltar.
After several attempts and roughly a half hour gone by, he decided he had enough of this strange creature messing with his meditation and finally left. It still took me several minutes to muster up the courage to walk to the front door. When I finally got in with a running start I was shaking my shirt and hair just to make sure he didn’t come back and hitch a ride as revenge for the numerous showers.
I was late to work that morning. This was before everyone and their child had a cell phone, so I couldn’t call in to let them know that I was stranded and to send the hunky firemen from Station 33 for help. I just got in my car and drove straight there. I arrived to work traumatized, but managed to make it through the day. To this day, when I hear the buzzing of insect wings or see a flash of purple and red out of the corner of my eye I duck and cover and pray my door screens are free and clear.
