We have an abundance of dragonflies in central Indiana this year. On my walks along Mud Creek this year, I recall seeing just one Monarch butterfly and no “June bugs” (cityfolk call them dung beetles), but dragonflies are always skimming over the water. More than I can remember from previous years.

In the Appalachians, my elders taught me that an abundance of certain insects presaged a change in the weather. Did lots of spiders come inside? A bad winter was on the way. But they never told me what a bumper crop of dragonflies might mean, so I resorted to the Internet (the collective wisdom of modern sages) and found this reference on dragonfly-site.com:

“The meaning of a dragonfly changes with each culture. The main symbolisms of the dragonfly are renewal, positive force and the power of life in general. Dragonflies can also be a symbol of the sense of self that comes with maturity. Also, as a creature of the wind, the dragonfly frequently represents change. And as a dragonfly lives a short life, it knows it must live its life to the fullest with the short time it has – which is a lesson for all of us.”

OK, I get the message. Several of them, in fact.

I’m curious to see what this Year of the Dragonfly might bring.