A glint of light at the edge of the lake catches my attention. I go closer. There, floating in the shallows where grass meets water, is a silvery damselfly with iridescent wings. I think, Poor thing must be dead.
Even while feeling a pang of sadness, I decide to retrieve it. Damselflies and dragonflies are such jewels of the insect world. I’ve always wanted to paint them but never got a long, up-close look—as if I could do justice in water colors to wings so transparent I can see the lake through their membrane.
To my surprise the damselfly, which lies on its back, kicks its legs and waggles its wings. It’s alive!
I dip one finger under the delicate wings and right it, conveying it to the nearest wild flower. It latches on and flutters its wings. Now I get that close-up look. Only the eyes of this fragile insect seem large—making its head appear the greater part of the pale yellow body. The yellow is accented with silver-gray stripes running down along the tail, which extends the creature’s length by a factor of four. Even its incredibly narrow legs are striped. Remarkably, it seems to match the colors of the wild flower.
The damselfly folds its wings and continues to hold on. I take the opportunity to return to the house and come back with my camera. After an hour it flies off. Someday I will try to paint these jewel-like insects.
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