Summer’s Glory Revisited
Hmmm, how fortunate to have exquisite reflections of summer sunlight to look back on in the deep freeze of cruel January.
We are into the dead of winter here.Temperatures have plummeted below the freezing mark with bone-chilling windchills. Venturing outdoors requires bundling up in full winter weather attireand summoning your will to brave the cold.
Confession: I am a winter wimp. It wasnot always that way. As a child I would charge out into the cold to go tobogganingor play road hockey. I actually liked shoveling snow back then. Butsomewhere along the way I went soft. Now I hibernate like a grumpy bear in thecold weather.
My antidote for the winter blues is toimmerse myself in my nature photos from the previous summer. I use these imagesto transport myself back to those hot, sunny days and pretend I am living themagain.
One of my discoveries this past summerwas Hover Flies aka Flower Flies. They are often seen hovering atflowers feeding on nectar and pollen. They are diminutive – less than ¾” in lengthin most cases – and are quite exquisitely attired (as illustrated in the Transverse-bandedFlower Fly at the head of this post) – in combinations of yellow, black andbrown.
I was fortunate to capture the Narrow-headedMarsh Fly above perched on a purple flower that provided a lovely backdrop.The delicate veined markings in the gossamer wings capture the sunlight and showto perfection.
The Oblique-banded Pond Fly aboveis a rather chunky fellow and nicely positioned on a green leaf. It is notoften that I get a photo so clear that the feathery hairs that fringe the body showup so distinctly.
The Common Drone Fly shown above survives quite late into the season when other Flower Flies are gone. This one had the fashion sense to perch on an orange leaf and appears to be contemplating its’ own shadow as a I contemplate it!
For today at least, Flower Fliesare my metaphor for the glory of summer, its radiant beams of sunlight and the symbioticrelationship that exists among nature’s many creatures. If only I could pushthe fast-forward button and leap forward into summer’s arms again!
~ Now Available Online from Amazon,Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage –Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Untilthe Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which wasa double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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