I’ve long enjoyed seeing damselflies, like this Northern Bluet Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum), but to truly see one would require suspending my sense of reality. The little reading I’ve done lately about Odonata quickly brings into focus an immense world well beyond simple naming and comments like “Oh, isn’t that beautiful?!”
When I think of how many other creatures I don’t really see even when they are right in front of me, I’m humbled by the miraculous complexity of life. My abstraction of the natural world are a way to begin to appreciate it for what it is: a thing so astonishing it is nearly impossible to see in any other way.
Still Learning To See 
Astonishing is the right word–years ago I was sitting in a creek on the west side of Michigan–and suddenly a group of damselflies landed on both of my arms. I hardly could breathe and have never forgotten it. That’s MY idea of a blessing 🙂
I’m sure they felt the same way Julia!
Bryan Pfeiffer does a very entertaining explanation of the mating ritual of the damsel fly.
I look forward to seeing him do that at some point. I’ve read it can even entail the male submerging the female to keep her away from the competition!
Love, love, love this one.
Jan