Choose Joy
By Christy Lowman
Burke County
This has been a rough year for my family and others. My book sales are down, and my business is slow this year. We’ve also had a lot of home repairs that needed to be done, plus other unexpected expenses. So, I found myself overwhelmed and grouchy for several days. One day last week, I was distracted by the things that were going on and was miserable. I decided to change my focus and my attitude. I was going to choose joy and love every day instead. No matter what, I am still blessed by God and have so much to be thankful for. Plus, many people have it harder than I do.
I thought since I’m trying to focus on joy that I would write about an animal that makes me happy. This was a little hard to do because all animals bring me some kind of joy.
I settled on the dragonfly. I absolutely love watching dragonflies dip in a cool pool of water to cool their bodies off in the summer. It fascinates me how they can fly every which way. They can even fly backward and hover in one spot for a few minutes like hummingbirds. They can do this because they have muscles in the thorax part of their body which allows them to control and move each of their four wings individually. This gives them superior flying ability. They can also fly up to 34mph. The dragonfly’s amazing flying skills have inspired engineers to make robots, drones, and other devices with the same capabilities as dragonflies.
Dragonflies do loop-de-loops and other amazing flying stunts when they are hunting for food. They are carnivores and catch their prey in mid-air, grabbing them with their legs. They use their serrated mandibles (jaws) to pull off the wings of their prey so they can’t fly away before they eat them. They can eat up to 100 mosquitos a day. Dragonflies cannot sting and will usually not bite people.
Their amazing vision also aids them with catching food and staying safe. Their head is made mostly of 2 giant eyes. Altogether, their eyes have 30,000 facets which provide the dragonfly with almost a 360-degree field of view. They only have one blind spot, which is directly behind them.
Although dragonflies eat insects, they also eat tiny fish and tadpoles. What they eat depends on which metamorphic stage they are in at that time. They also have several kinds of predators like bats, birds, mammals, fish, and several different reptiles.
Dragonflies live a long life compared to most insects. The average lifespan of most dragonflies is 6.5 years. They spend the majority of their life in water. They go through 17 different molting stages before they crawl out of the water, shed their skin, and become dragonflies.
The largest dragonfly, named the Giant Darner, is 5 inches long and 5 inches wide with its wingspan.
Dragonflies live on every continent except for Antarctica. Some species even migrate. Scientists have put tiny trackers on their wings to see how far they will travel. One type of dragonfly, the Globe skimmer, undergoes the longest migration that scientists know about. It travels 11,000 miles to and from the Indian Ocean.
G Force is a measurement of the pull of gravity on your body. A great example of G forces is the Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds, where riders experience 3.5 Gs during the ride. During the ride, passengers feel weightless as they go downhill and much heavier as the coaster speeds uphill. Most people will pass out around 4 or 5 Gs. A dragonfly can experience 4Gs just by flying in a straight line, and as much as 9 when making a turn in the air!
Dragonflies are fascinating creatures that come in a large array of colors. A lot of them are iridescent colors of red, blue, gold, and green.
Talking about and studying the amazing animals God has created brings me great joy. I encourage you to find what God does that makes you happy and spend time thinking about it. Remember to give all your worries and hard times to the Lord. He will take care of them for you and instead focus on the good things in your life.
Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I pray that we will all give our cares over to You, dear Lord. So that we may feel Your peace, and comfort in troubled times. I pray we will focus on nothing but pure joy that comes only from You! In Jesus’s name, I pray, Amen.
Bibliography
https://www.treehugger.com/things-you-never-knew-about-dragonflies-4864302
https://tarawildlife.com/10-astounding-things-you-should-know-about-the-dragonfly/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-dragonflies-96882693/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_CycloneC
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Christy Lowman is a Christian author and illustrator that lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband and two children. She enjoys writing and illustrating books for all ages. Some of her short stories are published with Guideposts and HCI. Christy gives all the glory to God in everything she does. A portion of every book sold from the Small Bible Character Series will be donated to battle human trafficking. If you enjoy her books, “like’ her author page on Facebook and let her know! You can buy her books at //www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AChristy+Lowman&s=relevancerank&text=Christy+Lowman&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1. You can reach her at //www.facebook.com/authorChristyLowman/
or christyssoaps@yahoo.com
You can read more Christian news from Christy here.
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