The dragonfly has vest buttons.

I missed “my” big flame skimmer dragonflies for a few days.  Had that incarnation of their lifecycle ended? Had a bird eaten them? One way or another, I thought they’d met their demise; however, yesterday, I saw one of them again, in the company of the little one.  The small flame skimmer has “vest buttons” on the front of his/her body in addition to the crosshatch design on the back. It also has a green lower mandible and nose “box.”

I know those details because we stood eye-to-eye for a long time. It was also chewing although it didn’t have any obvious food in its mouth. It kept cocking its head as if to question my close observations. Of course, vociferous person that I am, I talked to him the whole while we were staring at each other. I feel like the “witch” in The Three Lives of Thomsina.

I hear my neighbors visiting in their backyards and just for a second wonder if they know I’m talking with a dragonfly, butterfly or bird.  It really doesn’t matter, though, because I’m not likely to change this behavior.  By the time I am very old (of course my children say I’ve already reached that designation) I’ll be completely eccentric and be wearing a sign around my neck accepting that appellation with pride.

I really need to take a class to learn more about the creatures in my world because I have more questions than answers about these beings so “fearfully and wondrously made.”

A friendly damselfly alights on Travis' arm.

Like a kitty bringing home a lizard to its favored “owner” (disclaimer: no one really owns a cat) a tiny, predatory damselfly landed on my hand yesterday with a small flying creature in its mouth.  I raised my hand slowly to take a myopic look at the miniature loveliness only to see the struggling beastie being devoured, one bite at a time.  I watched as the chomping motion of mighty miniscule mandibles signaled the end of the life of the fly.

I didn’t really know whether to say “yuck” or “wow.”  I ended up being grateful for the gift of watching “my” small garden predator who works so hard to find his dinner in the garden.

I haven’t seen much of Facundo Chulo this season; he’s been keeping to himself.  We do hear him occasionally, though, signaling to us that he is alive, stuffing his rotund tummy and incidentally keeping the garden free of winged ravagers.  I wish I could grab him and plop him down in the lilies, where the “Japanese beetles” reign. These green ladybug lookalikes eat everything—leaves and flowers—but it could be worse.  They could be all over the garden; instead they concentrate on the lilies and leave the rest of the plants pretty much alone.

How apropos, when mating, damselflies for a heart.

I could choose to look at them as artists—creating lacy, woven patterns in the leaves and flowers in rare designer fashion (but I probably won’t).  Meanwhile we live with them, crushing the occasional one that comes to hand and watching dozens more wing away.

Gardening—the microcosm of life and death, awe and wonder.  How blessed we gardeners are!

This flame skimmer dragonfly caught a fly for lunch and I caught the dragonfly digitally.

As I crept closer and closer to this dragonfly with my camera, it kept flying off and coming back to the bamboo stake.  This time, it brought lunch, but didn’t offer to share its little fly.

I hadn’t really thought about dragonflies as predators, although I vaguely knew they were.  As he relished his prey, in gulping bites,  I captured it on camera.  I am reminded that my garden buddies have a purpose beyond entertaining me–they live and breathe and have their being in just being.

Flying in the sun on the summer solstice.

The longest day of the year—our summer solstice—after a long, long winter.  What a glorious day!  High 80 degrees, warm sun, gentle breezes, garlic drying on the clothes’ line.  Flame skimmer dragonflies darting through the garden—little “helicopters” diving and inadvertently entertaining me.  Damselflies skimming the water of Facundo’s pond and landing on the greenery of front-yard flowers.  Bees, butterflies, birds.

Clotheslines are not just for clothing--solar drying garlic.

Count blessings…count, count, count blessings.

Garlic braid June 2009

Yummy, yummy, yummy, I have cabbage in my tummy; and it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Okay, so that sounds a little enthusiastic—maybe I was just very hungry—but I created a new skillet meal tonight just because I harvested my garlic and I needed to use some of it.  Fresh, greenish garlic is wonderful stuff.  The outside “skins” haven’t become paperish yet; it’s soft and all of it can be chopped to use.

Please support your local farmers’ market.  Buy local.  Buy organic.  My local market is the Healdsburg, CA Farmers’ Market.

So, here’s my recipe.  If you’ve already seen my cabbage recipe, you’ll see that I’ve just built upon that.

Bacon-Shrimp Cabbage Recipe

• 1 very large or 3 small cloves garlic
• 1 Serrano chile, chopped
• ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• ½ large head of cabbage, very thinly sliced

• 1 pound 16-20 count shrimp (I used frozen, cooked, tail-on deveined) thawed or cooked if using raw
• ¼ pound bacon (chopped)

• 1 ½ tsp turmeric (you can use ½ tsp if you like it less spicy)
• 1 ½ tsp ginger (you can use ½ if you like it less spicy)
• Salt to taste

• 2 T lemon or lime juice

Directions:

• Cook chopped bacon in cast iron skillet.
• When crisp, remove bacon to bowl and sauté shrimp quickly in bacon fat.
• Remove shrimp from skilled and add to bowl
• Remove all but 1 tsp bacon fat and quickly sauté garlic in it
• Remove garlic and add to bowl
• Next quickly sauté chile and onions for two minutes in same skillet
• Add cabbage and sauté for another three minutes.
• 
  
• Sprinkle turmeric, ginger, and salt over cabbage and stir.
• Add back ingredients from bowl (bacon, shrimp, and garlic).
• Still until heated through
• (DON’T OVERCOOK)
• Add 2 T lemon OR lime juice and stir.

Serve with garlic toast.

Lovely trumpet lilies. They didn't bloom last year but obviously loved a season of normal rain.

Even though the seemingly endless rain threatens again, today, the flowers are gorgeous in the yard.  The salvias, dianthus, lilies, and hydrangeas are all in bloom.  The grasshoppers (just a few of them) are moving very slowly.  The tomatoes are developing, the peppers are blooming and smell like peppers!  The scents of summer bounty stir me to smile and revel in what is to be while enjoying what is, today.

I’m off to pick snow peas for dinner!

Osprey nest between Jenner and Guerneville. Copyright Ann Carranza May 2010.

I saw my first male bald eagle, Saturday, while driving between Jenner and Guerneville.  I can’t explain what happened inside—there’s something mystical, powerful and spiritual about his majesty.  I was awestruck and can still pull up the feeling when I pause to think about him.

Osprey through the tree. Copyright Ann Carranza May 08, 2010.

There’s also an osprey nest nearby—and two ospreys majestically rose from the nest when I neared with my camera.  Their haunting calls shivered down my spine and I, again, got caught up in the mystery and spirit of these fish eagles.

Now, more than ever, we must tread lightly upon this lonely blue planet that has sustained us.  The ospreys and bald eagles must have room to fly.

Osprey aerial acrobatics. Copyright Ann Carranza May 2010