Paying Attention

In my blogging group meeting Friday, I revealed that My Daily Snap has engaged me in the stream of my living. Snapping has made me present. I can't walk anywhere, do anything without seeing or hearing something tiny and remarkable. Sounds, sights, smells, sensations -- all make my head turn.

At Lake Cheston this morning, I heard the tiny grasshoppers zipping from one side of the dam to the other, saw the mica shine of dragonfly wings, listened to the solemn songs of toads and knew they were mating. Even just getting out of the car meant discovery: I followed a yellow swallowtail who flew into and draped herself on wisteria, then heard a bumblebee chase her off before I could fully focus on either.

I thought of Mary Oliver when I found the shed shell of a dragonfly naiad and a dragonfly of the same species that emerged from such a container. I wanted to read what she had said about dragonflies, but couldn't find a poem on the topic. I found this one instead, and the RSS feed for the daily poem-of-a-day podcast. Oliver is not the reader, alas, but her words breathe with the poet's presence.

Tomorrow: a poem and other miracles await.






L: Didymops transversa or Stream Cruiser(female)

Below: Exuvia of dragonfly of same kind