Dalliance of Damsels

To celebrate my final day of full-breast radiation (tomorrow the "boost" starts) I went straight from the cancer center to one of my favorite lakes, dropped the kayak in, loaded the camera, and went for a paddle.  I didn't paddle as hard as I wanted, but I lingered in little coves and patches of water lilies and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Ended up staying out about 1 1/2 hours which was ever so good for my soul.  

From the middle of the lake, I saw the pair of Bald Eagles who nest there every year flying around with one of their two off spring.  Then, I startled both myself and a great blue heron along one of the coves.  I watched blackbirds leaping from lily pads into the air to catch dragonflies.  And I watched dragons and damsels...

Today's featured photo is a pair of bluets engaged in the serious business of ensuring future generations of bluets.  The male holds tightly to the female at the base of her "neck" while flying her around looking for suitable vegetation to deposit eggs.  All the while, he also fends off would-be suitors, thereby ensuring that only his dna gets carefully deposited on the underside of a leaf.  I had to wait quite a while for this pair to get into a good position for some shots and then contend with the gently rock of the kayak.  Still, a decent enough shot where you can see her abdomen curled around under the edge of the lily leaf.

I also saw a splendid Green Frog Here, lurking in the lilies and a gorgeous blue-eyed Clubtail Dragon HERE

Arrived home to find a lovely box of treats from a blip friend including chocolates and tea which I immediately indulged in.

Today's chocolate, with many thanks to Linda, Godiva with caramel.

xo
Debbi

And thanks to Sheol for alerting me to the TinyTuesday "blue" theme - I believe this qualifies on several counts.