Nature never tires of selfless giving, and once more I find myself close to water as the fierce Calima heat builds and builds from distant Saharan lands.
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Lying in the shallows of this lake, I feel my own heat gently seeping into its wild spring fed waters.
All around me, light is dancing off this water and the air is redolent with swifts, martens and bee eaters.
One by one, these magnificent birds peel off and skim the lakes surface, their bills open to receive its life giving sweetness.
The swifts are direct and cut the air like Samurai swords, the martens follow with spiky jazz like movements and finally the bee eaters meet the waters surface in shimmering explosions of greens and yellows.
To the left, my attention is suddenly drawn to this delicate and balletic damselfly as it hawks the great willowherb in search of its diminutive prey.
It then decides my hand is a suitable place to land and bask. We share a few companionable moments together.
Close up its beauty becomes manifest, a work of art in metallic greens and fine antique lace.
Her head slowly turns to contemplate me, and I sense her ancient lineage.
Her kind dominated the air long before dinosaurs roamed the earth. In those far distant epochs, there were no birds or bats and they were the sole masters of the skies.
Finally she releases me from her mesmeric zygopteran gaze, launches into the torrid air and resumes her aerial ballet around the late summer flowers.
Photos: Damselfly and willow herb at the Earth Strength lake. Courtesy of the author.