Autumn Meadowhawk

I walked in the morning, a dry day with puffy, dark-bottomed clouds that set off the foliage display, now mostly finished in the lowlands but still vibrant higher up the hills. It was warm enough, I hoped, to put a few dragonflies to flight when I walked by, but there were none near the millpond, and the edges of the field were completely empty of odonates. I felt sad—dragonflies have been so much a part of my life since the beginning of May that to be without them is a definite loss. The end of the odonate season... the impending end of the baseball season... both play a deep and abiding role, and when both are over, well, it'll take some time to adjust. But neither are quite finished yet. The Red Sox are about to start the World Series against the Cardinals, and this afternoon, in a warm, sunny section of the field across the street, I spotted a couple of Autumn Meadowhawks basking in the honey-colored light. This species is typically the last on the wing in our area, some years flying well into November. I don't know how freeze tolerant they are, and there's definitely light frost in the forecast towards week's end. If this is finis, well, thanks, odes. It's been fun. Great fun.