Here Be Dragons, er, Dragonflies

It's been a long while since I've seen a dragonfly.

They were always my tiny companions

when I was fishing off the side of the boat,

green ones, blue ones, and little fiery-red ones.

With their big heads, they reminded me 

of helmeted helicopter pilots.

This one, however, nearly smacked me in the head 

this morning as I walked to the store. 

I looked in my dragonfly book 

but couldn't find one like him in the pictures,

so I can't say what kind of dragonfly he be, 

but I bet he's not from "uncharted territory." 

Sunlit Edges

I saw these little sunlit flowers in one of the garden plots 

at Saint Christopher Catholic Church in Speedway.

 I was captivated by the way their little furry bits 

caught the sun, accentuating the delicacy 

of their shapes and stems.

The brightness of the sunlight off these little flowers 

made me think of the way crystal prisms 

were used to bounce candlelight around a room, 

making the room seem brighter.

Little Purple Thingys

I love the nubby tweed look of these flowers, 

Russian sage, I think. They add a spot of color 

to an otherwise drab part of town.

They are planted on the lane divider near

the Speedway/Clermont exit at I-74.

Speedway Street Painters: At It Again

How could I have ever missed this gem?

OMG! It has smears, craquelure, and tread marks.

A bit of sun has even taken the time

out of its busy morning to mark the spot where 

the paint was spilled with an aura.

It is golden, the color of an egg yolk,

and it has been blessed with a halo

from Mother Nature.

After the Rain

Rain entered the Indianapolis area 

late Monday afternoon. It fell heavily, 

straight down, for what seemed like an hour.

When I returned home later that evening, 

the sun had started to break through the clouds.

One could see patches of clear blue sky

behind the gray overcast.

I went to the edge of the property 

to take a few pictures of the sun 

as it settled in for the evening, 

just beyond the tree line.

I imagined its hot, round bottom

nestling down onto the rain-soaked ground

sending up the clouds of steam

that created the smoky backdrop

for the passing trucks on I-465.

Kablooey! Spoosh! Splat!

A peony's time on this Earth is much too short.

Their buds are huge, each one about an inch

in diameter, a hard pink or white ball

atop a dark green stem. 

Once they bloom the flower is 

much too heavy for the stalk,

with all the flowers leaning down

to the ground. 

Someone or something walks by --

Kablooey! The flowers get jarred, 

the petals are shook loose,

flying Spoosh! into the air,

and end up Splat! in an untidy pile, 

looking like they had a brawl.

The delicate color fades into the hot 

light of the sun and its lovely scent,

like the remembering of a kiss, 

drifts away into the imagination.

June Theme Day: Zest? ... Well, It Depends

There's nothing like the zest, the pure enthusiasm 

shown by race fans before and after the start of the Indy 500. 

Last weekend, folks began to make their way through 

the Speedway gates when they opened at 5:30 a.m. 

They quickly (well, that's debatable) dragged their little 

wheeled coolers, collapsible chairs, and blankets 

to their seats and viewing areas. 

Just as quickly those items were arranged 

and folks settled in to await the race.

People played catch with baseballs, footballs, or Frizbees.

The kids played with toys in the warm morning sun

while their parents drank and prepared breakfast. 
Quite a few folks slept for a few hours, 

awakened only by the sound of Jim Nabors singing 

"Back Home Again in Indiana."

The process was then reversed. 

But the enthusiasm that was shown at dawn

was not in evidence. Blankets were rolled up,

 trash thrown in receptacles, chairs folded, 

and the coolers, now empty, made forlorn little 

hollow tickety-tickety sounds as their wheels 

rolled over the pavement. Tired from their exertions

spectators wound their way towards their vehicles,

many of which were parked on the lawns of Speedway

residents. There, they might find the shade of a tree 

where they would have a beer and talk about the race 

while waiting a couple hours for the traffic to thin.

This blog, Speedway Daily Photo, 
is a member of the City Daily Photo portal.

Made up of photographers from all over the world, 

CDP gives viewers the opportunity to see images 

of cities taken by the people who live there. 

From Speedway, Indiana one can go on to visit Paris, 

Hanoi, Dubai, or even St. Louis, Missouri. 

To see other interpretations of today's theme, Zest,

just click on the CDP link above, 
or on the badge to the right of today's post.