Hello and Goodbye

So many female Autumn Meadowhawks sunned themselves today: on dry grass, leaves, my hand.  Wherever I walked, they flitted, activated by the warm temperature and tease of changing seasons. Woods and water shimmered with their wings.

I am glad I walked today.  I am glad I visited the lake at mid-day, under high sun and heat.  I am glad I lingered.  And I am glad I did not learn one final fact until ten minutes ago: "Once they reach sexual maturity, individuals seek a mate, lay eggs and die soon afterward."  So many females, so much urgency to reproduce and tap their eggs into the sedges, then surrender.  

Hello and goodbye until next late spring when their offspring, or at least many of them, emerge and my watching begin again.