A Visitor to My Campsite

Wednesday July 20, .. - - After leaving Guilford Lake and Columbiana County I leisurely drove north and west through Ohio, stopping for the night at Maumee Bay State Park a few miles east of Toledo. The temperature started out in the mid 70s and continued to climb all day long. I thought of just continuing with driving but I had already been on the road for eight hours. I was able to select my campsite at Maumee Bay State Park and found one that had a little bit of shade. It helped. A little. But the 100 degree temperature and high humidity made it very uncomfortable.



Very briefly, I thought about joining the crowds at the beach but it would have meant having to leave the van closed up in the open sun. I just didn't think it was worth it. A nice breeze would make its appearance every now and then and as the sun made its way across the sky, the shade lengthened in the campsite cooling the area off just a little.



At one point I noticed something on the picnic table nearby. I couldn't quite make out what it was and it stayed there for quite some time. Eventually, I got up and took a look and saw what it was and grabbed the camera.







Go ahead, double-click on the image to view a larger version. You know you want to. The wings are pretty amazing, so thin and delicate.



The dragonfly patiently waited while I moved in closer and closer with the camera. Finally, after half a dozen shots it jumped up, landed on my hand for an instant and was off to explore its own little universe. It was doing its job well – that of eating mosquitoes and other small bugs – so I wasn't bothered too much by them.



In between wiping the sweat (and it was sweat, not simply perspiration) off my brow (and elsewhere) I sipped a tall glass of a cool beverage and waited out the sweltering night, hoping that the next night would be just a little cooler! The temp when I crawled into the van for the night at 10:30 pm was 96 degrees. When I got up the next morning at 6:30 am it was 84 degrees. It was a rather uncomfortable night, to say the least. Not complaining. Just saying ;-)