stopping to watch the dragonflies

yesterday, jesse and i were sitting in our kitchen when we noticed something happening outside our front porch. there were dragonflies everywhere. not just a few here and there, but what seemed like hundreds of them, flying and swooping through the air. we stopped what we were doing and sat by the window and watched.

we had no idea what had hatched or exactly what had caused this sudden abundance of dragonflies, but it was pretty incredible to watch. whatever little insects had emerged had apparently provided a feast, and the dragonflies had arrived. as we watched, we started imagining that the barn swallows would soon figure it out too. before long, they’d be swooping through the same little patch of sky, taking advantage of the abundance.

and for a few minutes, everything else stopped.

there was nothing particularly extraordinary about what we were doing. we were just sitting at a window watching dragonflies. but there was something wonderful about being completely absorbed in it. watching them swoop and dive and change direction so quickly, we started thinking about how much is happening around us all the time that we usually don’t notice.

nature is beautiful, but it’s also honest and raw. something hatches, something else comes to eat it, and another creature comes along to eat that creature. everything is connected, and the whole thing keeps moving in a cycle that existed long before we were sitting there watching it.

this is one of the things i love most about living where we do and spending so much time outside. our own landscape is constantly changing. the plants bloom and fade, birds come and go, insects appear seemingly overnight, and something is always happening if you take the time to notice. sometimes it’s a beautiful garden in full bloom, and sometimes it’s a completely unexpected little drama taking place above the grass.

it’s also something we think about when we’re designing landscapes for our clients. i don’t want a landscape to feel like a collection of plants that have simply been arranged to look pretty. i want it to feel alive. i love incorporating layers of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, and other plantings that create habitat and give birds, butterflies, bees, and other insects places to live and feed.

in a landscape design, there is room for beauty and function at the same time. a mature tree can provide shade for a family sitting on a patio while also providing shelter for birds. a perennial garden can bring color to a backyard while attracting pollinators. even the less obvious parts of a landscape can have a purpose in the larger ecosystem.

we see this especially in established communities like naperville, glen ellyn, wheaton, geneva, and batavia, where mature trees and older landscapes already provide so much habitat. when we’re working on a property, we love finding ways to preserve and build upon those existing natural features rather than starting over.

whether we’re designing a backyard in aurora, plainfield, yorkville, downers grove, lisle, or another western suburb of chicago, we want the landscape to feel like a place that belongs to the property—and a place where nature is still allowed to happen.

yesterday, we were reminded of that in the simplest way. we sat at the window and watched the dragonflies. we imagined the barn swallows coming next. and for a little while, we just marveled at the natural world doing exactly what it has always done.

sometimes you don’t have to go anywhere to experience nature. you just have to stop what you’re doing and watch.