Almost Famous

I heard them behind me before I saw them: one couple and two women, going opposite directions, both stopping to ask, "What are you looking at?"

"Dragonflies." I pointed. "See straight over there, in front of the bank? There's a big one depositing eggs. She's slapping the water and coming back up."

"Yes," they all responded.

"Great Blue Skimmers," I said.

"Wait! Are the one who wrote the article?" one of the women walkers asked.

I admitted as much and they wanted to know more. So I told them more about what I wrote in Nature Notes (page 14 of The Sewanee Mountain Messenger).

They went on their way and I, mine.

What I didn't tell them is this: I spent the better part of the day taking bad picture after bad picture. But dadgum it was fun. Now that I have the right waterproof hiking shoes and a fancy new lens, I don't care about quality or fame. Just give me the opportunity to climb around, find beautiful bugs, and shoot!

Sewanee's Seasonal Visitors

some (people)
amble threefourfive
abreast with traffic
traffic behind
(approachingslowingstopping)
they turn
stare, signal
the other lane
urging a driver
to ignore
blind curves
oncoming cars
animals or
other visitors
taking the road
as if 
entitled to it

some others
(not people)
share sun
earthairwater
without much
bother like
the brown
butterflies warming
themselves on
leaf, deck,
doorscreen before
flight, taking
no notice
of the person
other side
of the door