BATHING SWANS~DRAGONFLIES

August 23 ~ Thursday ~ high clouds/some sun. First day of Palmer State Fair.
Not a bad weather day, although it does get quite cool during the night, so takes a while to warm up during the morning. Jack went to see Mark and while he was gone I was sitting, reading, by the fire when a sound came from the woods...thought maybe HB and Erin were at their place, but the gate was still closed. Later we walked back on the trail... and...the answer to the age-old question: Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the woods if no one is around...was answered. I wasn’t technically in the woods and it did make a sound. Also, took the 4 wheeler around to see the swans...bath time for them and they put on quite a show, ducking under water with their feet up wiggling...spreading their wings to fluff and dry...preening, with feathers flying thru the air. AND...a dragonfly landed on my hand and stayed for several photos. There are over 30 species of dragonflies/damselflies (both have male and female) in Alaska (Florida has 170) and are very interesting to read about~one species can lay over 3300 eggs at once and the larval dragonfly can live for months or even years before leaving the water to emerge...in various colors of blue, emerald, black, yellow and, even, red.