Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 82
August 13, 2010
WINGED DRAGONS FOR BUT A MOMENT IN TIME
Hmmm, of all the myriad creatures with which we share this world of infinite diversity, is there any as mystical and prehistoric as the Dragonfly?
I became enamoured with these winged dragons a few years back somewhat by accident. My fascination grows the more time I spend in their presence. I have begun to feel an affinity with them.
It may surprise you to learn – it certainly surprised me – that dragonflies have existed on planet earth for 300 million years. Scientists tell us they look...
August 7, 2010
BE THE RIPPLE: A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS
Hmmm, I wonder how many people passed by that pair of sunglasses lying on the sidewalk and simply didn't see them. An even more telling question: How many people saw them and choose to simply walk on by without picking them up?
It was a Friday evening around 6:00. I was on my way into a movie theatre when I saw the sunglasses lying on the sidewalk just below the steps leading to the entrance. They looked to be designer sunglasses and therefore rather expensive.
Normally, in this situation, I...
July 30, 2010
Random Act of Metaphor: The Mosaic Darner Conundrum
Hmmm, just exactly how fine is the margin of error between the survival and extinction of a species in our natural world?
The tipping point may well be so fine that we don't even notice when it happens. Yes, I know that sounds like hyperbole. But hear me out.
The discernable difference between a Canada Darner dragonfly and a Lance-tipped Darner dragonfly comes down to two, hair-splitting judgment calls. 1. An ever so slim difference in the notch in one of two thorax stripes. 2. A slight...
July 23, 2010
Caught in the Spider Web of Circumstance
Hmmm, does that spider on the wall move around during the day and return to the exact same spot? Or is that one hunting spot so productive it simply never moves?
I'm not a big fan of spiders. Quite frankly, they creep me out and I keep my distance from them. But this particular spider has captured my interest. Each morning this week, when I descend to the parking garage in my morning routine, I see it poised on the wall beside the door.
It intrigues me that it's always in the same place...
July 16, 2010
A Pelican, a Butterfly and the BP Oil Spill
Hmmm, is the American White Pelican, who is currently hanging about at Second Marsh in Oshawa, a refugee from the April 20 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico?
The pelican is creating quite a stir among local birdwatchers who are going out of their way to see it. Pelicans, you see, are not normally found in this area. They winter in the gulf states and breed in parts of central U.S. and western Canada.
It's not unheard of for birds to wander out of their normal territory. It...
July 10, 2010
PRAY FOR THE CHILD WHO CRIES FOR LOVE
Hmmm, what unnamable hurt welled up in the tears that rolled down that young boy's face as he rode down in the elevator with his mother?
It was random chance that I happened to be in the elevator when they got on. My presence didn't seem to make a difference. I might as well have been invisible.
He was perhaps 10 – dressed in a soccer uniform complete with shin pads and soccer shoes. But soccer was the last thing on his mind. He tried hard to hold back the tears but the heart ran too deep to...
July 4, 2010
Emeralds of Wisdom From the Eye of the Dragon
Emerald
Hmmm, did that mystery Emerald pose so obligingly for my camera just to frustrate the daylights out of me? Or, could it be, it was placed in that precise spot to bestow upon me gems of wisdom I needed to acquire?
No, I wasn't mining for precious gems. The Emerald in question (pictured above) is a dragonfly in the Emerald family. Emeralds get their name from their green jewel-like eyes which make them particularly photogenic.
This particular jewel of nature frustrates me because I...
June 26, 2010
THE G20 SUMMIT: TURN THE PAGE PLEASE
Hmmm, should I or should I not explore the metaphors lurking within the violent protests and the subsequent lockdown in Toronto in the area of the G20 Summit? I really do not want to because…
By the time the Summit got under way, I was already weary of the endless news reports about the preparations and what we all should and should not do.
The draconian security measures made me wonder what was becoming of "the truth north strong and FREE".
The cost of staging the G20 Summit makes me feel ill w...
June 19, 2010
WHEN I GROW OLD AND WEAR MY TROUSERS ROLLED
I grow old… I grow old…
I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled
~ T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Hmmm, when I grow old and wear the bottom of my trousers rolled, will that pocketful of hallowed childhood memories still endure in my failing mind?
Memory Time Capsule: Escaping from the rabble of everyday life to the vacant field just down the street. Wedge shaped lot on the corner of Alma Street and Parkview Road. A world unto itself for an introverted boy with a mystical c...
June 12, 2010
LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN EVENING BY THE LAKE
Hmmm, two hours of fishing and not so much as a nibble. Then three casts, three minutes, three fish. Then another hour of casting with nothing to show for it. Is there a lesson in here somewhere?
Yes, I think there is. Much of life unfolds this way. Those uplifting "Ah yes!" moments surrounded by the more mundane ebb and flow of everyday living.
I often lament at all the stuff that gets in the way of the things I love to do. The endless, repeating array of things I must do to earn a living...
