A Walk in the Land of the Dragons...

I had a plan today ... and it involved a walk with the dragons. Nothing like a hot, sunny day to bring them all out to play. I had some good choices, but decided to go with the very common Eastern Pondhawk female. Although this is a dragon that can be seen on almost any day in summer, it's one that I don't always have an easy time photographing. I got this after spending about 10 minutes crouched in the grass, sweat dripping down my back (I know - yuck). She finally got used to me, I guess, and let me slowly inch closer and closer. She's a beauty, isn't she? And given half a chance, she'll eat anything smaller than herself, including males of her own species! Yes, she's quite a cunning hunter, as are so many of the dragons.

I also spotted the first of the dreaded Japanese Beetles of the summer. I dislike them intensely, although I'll admit that they are beautiful to look at. It's just that they eat everything! Including my basil. Hate 'em. I wonder if FL has Japanese beetles? I hope not.

I posted six shots on Flickr, starting here, the maligned Jap. Beetle, a small butterfly and a few more dragons.

I performed "surgery" on our vacuum cleaner and was able to get it to suction again - it was totally clogged up. Not the first time, either. Seems like a pretty significant design flaw to have a vacuum that is so easily clogged. (Muttering, grumbling). It being a little too hot out now to enjoy the great outdoors, I'm going to tackle a little more packing. And revel in the fact that hubs will be here in 4 days!

Happy Sunday, people.