blue dragonfly that highlights changes in our life

We are a family that likes to shop at Menards. There I said it. Sometimes we go in just to browse. There is a giddy amount stuff available and purpose-driven trips also spark ideas for future home improvement projects. We get everything from screen tents to drill bits to holiday decorations from Menards and we like it.

The store has an astonishing variety of outdoor solar lights and when they go on sale for $1, we buy lots. Last time we bought so many that the little one renamed our trailer retreat "happy lights." Poor girl hasn't had much time to enjoy the lights because she's either in bed or it is simply too cold. We, the parents, enjoy them immensely. We've lined some of the paths that lead deep into the woods with these lights and the forgotten ones become known again when the sun goes down and lights brighten up the paths. To say they are functional would be a total lie. They exist simply for delight.

I, of course, had to take the time to photograph some at twilight.

The background in these photos is snow. I love the way the blue light took over and made everything around it blue. There are no dragonflies flying around right now (though we did spot a few mosquitoes over the firepit) so it is nice to have these scattered around the property.

There are so many decisions I never would have made before I had a child. The solar lights are a good example. We had left most of the property pristine in that we hadn't developed it much. But now that she is in our life, we make paths and enlarge our outdoor living areas. We make benches and plant a bunch of solar lights in the woods. We haven't gone over board and are still using only about 3/4 acre of our 4 acre woods but this winter I've been feeling this shift in how we use the land. And it feels good.