By Joann M. Ringelstetter
A month ago, I posted a story entitled “Dragonfly” in which I wrote about some interesting dragonfly encounters shortly after our brother Paul died in June of 2014. A few days ago, I had another very interesting encounter with a dragonfly.
I needed to repaint part of a green metal birdfeeder that had gotten rusty over time, so I set the birdfeeder on some newspaper and went to get the can of spray paint. When I returned with the paint, there was a beautiful red dragonfly sitting on the newspaper. I said, “I don’t think you’re going to want to stay there when I start spray painting.” And after I started, the dragonfly left the newspaper, but moved even closer to the paint and landed on top of the birdfeeder.
As he sat there looking at me, I said, “Okay, Paul, if you sent this dragonfly, then have him hang out with me for a while.” Then I continued to spray the smelly paint on the inside of the birdfeeder and the dragonfly continued to hang out on top of the feeder. I couldn’t believe it, so I went inside to get my camera, expecting him to be gone when I returned. But he was still sitting there, so I began to photograph him, sticking my macro lens right up to his little face. And still he continued to sit there.
This dragonfly was in the Skimmer family of dragonflies and was either a Cherry-Faced or a Ruby Meadowhawk. Other than examining DNA, about the only way to tell the difference between the two is to examine their reproductive organs, which I certainly didn’t try to do. After taking several photos of the Meadowhawk sitting on the birdfeeder, I said, “You know, that’s not a very nice background. Maybe you could fly over to one of those hostas and let me photograph you there.”
As soon as those words left my mouth, the dragonfly flew up and landed on the flowers of a hosta I purchased shortly after Paul’s passing and which is called “Paul’s Glory.” When I walked over to it, he quickly flew away. I said, “Are you messing with me?” Then he landed on another hosta leaf nearby and sat there until I finished taking a few shots.
When I finished taking my photos, I thanked him and he flew away.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label dragonflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dragonflies. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Dragonfly
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In 2014, on the July 4th weekend, Ruth and I went for a long day of photographing to the northeast of Madison. Our family was going through some tough times then. Our brother Paul had died rather unexpectedly on June 4 followed by a lengthy hospital stay for our dad. So Ruth and I just needed to hit the backroads for a little stress relief.
As we often do, we left my house in the dark so we could start photographing at first light. We drove the 45 minutes to Old Fort Winnebago Cemetery near Portage, Wisconsin, and I took my first photograph of the day at 4:57 a.m.
We spent the next two hours photographing mostly churches and cemeteries in Columbia County and then crossed into Marquette County and spent the next three hours photographing more churches and cemeteries. Around 10:00 a.m., we entered Green Lake County and were soon in the small town of Kingston to photograph the historic Kingston House supper club, which began its life in 1846 as a hotel.
I parked the car across the street from the Kingston House, and began to set up my tripod to photograph it. As I was aiming my camera at the supper club building, I heard the clip-clop of a horse nearby and quickly focused my camera in another direction to capture an Amish man riding behind a trotting horse.
It was nearly 1:00 p.m. when we crossed into Fond du Lac County. I photographed a few farms and an old stone church and then we stopped for a picnic lunch around 2:00 p.m. After lunch, we entered Dodge County and spent a couple of hours photographing farms and cemeteries, along with a depot, a grain elevator, and a lumber building.
At some point, we stopped to fill up the gas tank and I went into the convenience store to use the restroom. When I returned to the car, the following conversation took place:
Ruth: “Wow, that’s really weird.”
Joann: “What’s weird?”
Ruth: “That’s the second time.”
Joann: “The second time for what?”
Ruth: “When you were out by the gas pump, a dragonfly came into the car.”
Joann: “What do you mean about it being the second time?”
Ruth: “Early this morning, when you were out photographing in Kingston, two blue dragonflies were buzzing around the car and one of them flew into the car. And now, another dragonfly came into the car.”
Joann: “That IS weird. Hey, maybe Paul is sending us dragonflies to let us know he’s okay and that he hears us when we talk about him.”
Dragonflies are associated with the symbolic meaning of change and transformation, along with joy and lightness of being. And some say our loved ones who have crossed over may send us signs through butterflies, dragonflies, rainbows, cloud formations, etc. So we decided it was Paul letting us know he was fishing up in heaven like he loved to do when he was here on earth.
It was almost 4:30 p.m. when we crossed into Washington County and after 6:00 p.m. when we entered Ozaukee County. This was as far northeast as we had planned to go, but there was still much to photograph. I worked quickly and we finished capturing most of the subjects on our list. Then we headed to Stony Hill School and enjoyed a peaceful picnic supper on the school grounds.
It was around 7:30 p.m. by the time we finished our supper, so we knew we’d better get started on the 2-hour drive home. About 8:40 p.m., we passed through the city of West Bend and the daylight was waning. As we sat at a stoplight, I realized that we had planned to make it to West Bend with enough daylight to visit a labyrinth garden where the grassy pathway is lined with flowers, herbs, and ornamental grasses.
As I expressed my disappointment to Ruth, she said, “Well, do you want to at least go take a quick look at it to see if it’s worth returning? I think we’re near it.” I responded, “Yes!” so she told me to take a right and we headed to Regen Park, where the labyrinth is located. I quickly parked the car in the nearest parking lot, grabbed my equipment, and literally ran back to the labyrinth, which is called Labyrinth Garden Earth Sculpture.
I entered through the arched gate and began to quickly size up the layout to see what I could capture in the few minutes of daylight that were left. It was a large labyrinth with mowed pathways between rows of beautiful flowers. I found out later that it was designed in the tradition of a seven-circuit Cretan labyrinth and it is 90 feet in diameter.
I took several shots along the pathway and then pulled in close on a couple patches of beautiful Asiatic Lilies.
As the light was getting almost too dim to photograph, I saw some beautiful Calla Lilies that I wanted to see if I could capture as the last photos of the day. I lowered my tripod and snapped a close-up of one Calla Lily.
As I reframed for another capture, I saw an orange glow reflecting on my LCD screen on the back of the camera. I guess the Universe had other ideas about what should be my last photos of the day. As I turned around, I was stunned to see a huge dragonfly sculpture silhouetted against a beautiful sunset.
I stood for a few seconds, mesmerized by the bigger-than-life message from my brother, Paul. All is well and the Universe is a beautiful place, both here and on the other side. Since that time, I’ve had some wonderful encounters with dragonflies. Thank you, Paul, for continuing to send them as a reminder of your beautiful soul.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
In 2014, on the July 4th weekend, Ruth and I went for a long day of photographing to the northeast of Madison. Our family was going through some tough times then. Our brother Paul had died rather unexpectedly on June 4 followed by a lengthy hospital stay for our dad. So Ruth and I just needed to hit the backroads for a little stress relief.
As we often do, we left my house in the dark so we could start photographing at first light. We drove the 45 minutes to Old Fort Winnebago Cemetery near Portage, Wisconsin, and I took my first photograph of the day at 4:57 a.m.
We spent the next two hours photographing mostly churches and cemeteries in Columbia County and then crossed into Marquette County and spent the next three hours photographing more churches and cemeteries. Around 10:00 a.m., we entered Green Lake County and were soon in the small town of Kingston to photograph the historic Kingston House supper club, which began its life in 1846 as a hotel.
I parked the car across the street from the Kingston House, and began to set up my tripod to photograph it. As I was aiming my camera at the supper club building, I heard the clip-clop of a horse nearby and quickly focused my camera in another direction to capture an Amish man riding behind a trotting horse.
It was nearly 1:00 p.m. when we crossed into Fond du Lac County. I photographed a few farms and an old stone church and then we stopped for a picnic lunch around 2:00 p.m. After lunch, we entered Dodge County and spent a couple of hours photographing farms and cemeteries, along with a depot, a grain elevator, and a lumber building.
At some point, we stopped to fill up the gas tank and I went into the convenience store to use the restroom. When I returned to the car, the following conversation took place:
Ruth: “Wow, that’s really weird.”
Joann: “What’s weird?”
Ruth: “That’s the second time.”
Joann: “The second time for what?”
Ruth: “When you were out by the gas pump, a dragonfly came into the car.”
Joann: “What do you mean about it being the second time?”
Ruth: “Early this morning, when you were out photographing in Kingston, two blue dragonflies were buzzing around the car and one of them flew into the car. And now, another dragonfly came into the car.”
Joann: “That IS weird. Hey, maybe Paul is sending us dragonflies to let us know he’s okay and that he hears us when we talk about him.”
Dragonflies are associated with the symbolic meaning of change and transformation, along with joy and lightness of being. And some say our loved ones who have crossed over may send us signs through butterflies, dragonflies, rainbows, cloud formations, etc. So we decided it was Paul letting us know he was fishing up in heaven like he loved to do when he was here on earth.
It was almost 4:30 p.m. when we crossed into Washington County and after 6:00 p.m. when we entered Ozaukee County. This was as far northeast as we had planned to go, but there was still much to photograph. I worked quickly and we finished capturing most of the subjects on our list. Then we headed to Stony Hill School and enjoyed a peaceful picnic supper on the school grounds.
It was around 7:30 p.m. by the time we finished our supper, so we knew we’d better get started on the 2-hour drive home. About 8:40 p.m., we passed through the city of West Bend and the daylight was waning. As we sat at a stoplight, I realized that we had planned to make it to West Bend with enough daylight to visit a labyrinth garden where the grassy pathway is lined with flowers, herbs, and ornamental grasses.
As I expressed my disappointment to Ruth, she said, “Well, do you want to at least go take a quick look at it to see if it’s worth returning? I think we’re near it.” I responded, “Yes!” so she told me to take a right and we headed to Regen Park, where the labyrinth is located. I quickly parked the car in the nearest parking lot, grabbed my equipment, and literally ran back to the labyrinth, which is called Labyrinth Garden Earth Sculpture.
I entered through the arched gate and began to quickly size up the layout to see what I could capture in the few minutes of daylight that were left. It was a large labyrinth with mowed pathways between rows of beautiful flowers. I found out later that it was designed in the tradition of a seven-circuit Cretan labyrinth and it is 90 feet in diameter.
I took several shots along the pathway and then pulled in close on a couple patches of beautiful Asiatic Lilies.
As the light was getting almost too dim to photograph, I saw some beautiful Calla Lilies that I wanted to see if I could capture as the last photos of the day. I lowered my tripod and snapped a close-up of one Calla Lily.
As I reframed for another capture, I saw an orange glow reflecting on my LCD screen on the back of the camera. I guess the Universe had other ideas about what should be my last photos of the day. As I turned around, I was stunned to see a huge dragonfly sculpture silhouetted against a beautiful sunset.
I stood for a few seconds, mesmerized by the bigger-than-life message from my brother, Paul. All is well and the Universe is a beautiful place, both here and on the other side. Since that time, I’ve had some wonderful encounters with dragonflies. Thank you, Paul, for continuing to send them as a reminder of your beautiful soul.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
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