Nik held a dragonfly today. We were walking down the street, finishing our nature walk, when he spotted a beautiful, big dragonfly on the road. Only one leg seemed to move and Nik suggested that it was sleeping. I said that I thought it might have flown into something and become stunned, or perhaps it was just too cold. Nik put his finger beside it and the dragonfly slowly climbed onto it. Nik carried “Nikkin” (as he dubbed it) down to his grandma's house and sat down to study the beautiful insect. Nik looked carefully at the dragonfly and suggested that his tail might not be quite right. Nik sat with “Nikkin” on the porch and watched as Nikkin began to get more active. When he had first picked Nikkin up, only Nikkin's front legs would work; but as the minutes went on, Nik would call out to the rest of us “Nikkin is moving all his legs.” then “Nikkin is moving his wings.” and finally “Nikkin is trying to fly.” Nikkin attempted flight and fell to the ground, and a tearful Nik picked him back up and they returned to the porch. We walked onto the lawn, and Nik and Nikkin stood in the sunshine so that I could take pictures, and after the fourth snapshot, Nikkin began to quiver and flitter and he flew away. Nik was stunned for a moment, but then his arms shot straight up in a victory stance. “Nature Nut victory number one!” He announced. “I helped a dragonfly get better!”
When his grandmother came home, Nik greeted her at the door with an excited “Guess what happened on our nature walk?”
“Did a racoon run up your pant leg?” she asked.
“No, better!” he enthused. “I carried a tired dragonfly all the way down the road and sat with him until he was healed and flew away.”
“Well,” she responded as only a Community Support Worker could. “I guess he thought you were the Handydart.”
