I can’t be the only one. I’m sure others do too. Working through the Butterflies & Blooms in the Briar Patch Habitat in July 2017, I saw this handsome Darner (Dragonfly?). Yes? No? It was too fine to pass up, so I made my approach (I shoot Macro- . It did not flee. I came in, within 18″ and shot away.

I was born during WWII and I still remember the Current Events reports my classmates had to give in PS244. Many students chose the really unpleasant reporting of America losses in battle that week in Korea. Then with Viet Nam I was an Artillery Officer, but our NYARNG unit was not sent over. With the contemporary war in Iraq and Afghanistan; the ever present concern that Israel will be engaged by its neighbors; the immediate carnage in Syria and now the of-concern-to-me build-up of PRChina’s military machine . . . all this and more has nurtured a lifelong begrudging respect for airplanes, jet fighters and now missiles.

When I watched Darners do their daredevil flying in those empty lots in Brooklyn, I became a forever fan of these amazing creatures.

When this slide came back from Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas I was pleased with the delicate capture of wings, the fair sharing of the head, abdomen as well as the nice muting of the background in soft color.

I thought this look served Darners well. They do what they do (capture their prey in mid-flight, at dizzying speed). As with our USAF fighter jets, they fly above and serve. Never, never have they harassed or assaulted me, even after thousands of hours in the field, darners everywhere.

Jeff