Today, as costumes of Cinderella, ghosts, clowns, super-heroes and —scariest of all — politicians (remember those Nixon masks) walk the streets carrying bags to be filled with trick-or-treat delights, Angelkeep brings to a close an Angelkeep record. October’s column series, “The Goblins are Coming,” a mix of nature and Halloween’s approach, was the only five-part series in the 18-plus-year history of Angelkeep Journals.
Angelkeep also saved a summer’s delight for this finale to be published on Halloween Day. What better animal from nature could be focused on Halloween Day than one having the holiday as its namesake?
To add proof that the orange and black colors associated with Halloween have a history, it was Dru Drury in 1773 that named a dragonfly Halloween pennant. As full disclosure, its colors are orange and deep brown, but the dark often looks to the eye like black. The pennant half of the name came from the fact that its genus perch at the tips of plants and appear to wave like a pennant in the wind. As full disclosure of the facts, Halloween pennant was the common name. Drury named it binomially, Celithemis eponina.
Only deceased Latin linguists know what that name means. Latin zombies aren’t speaking.
Halloween pennant was the largest dragonfly of this genus. It’s a little like going to the pumpkin patch to pick the largest pumpkin for a Halloween jack-o-lantern. Like the orange ribs of the pumpkin, the Halloween pennant’s wing veins grew orange.
As another full disclosure element, Angelkeep found Halloween pennant at Ouabache State Park. It waved like a pennant on the grasses of Kunkel Lake, not on the edge of Angelpond. Angelkeep had yet to discover this Halloween dragonfly around the pond. That would be a “treat” greater than a King Size Snickers candy bar which also closely matched the colors of this dragonfly. Especially the Snickers Orange Pumpkin variety, or the Snickers Spooky Fun Size Halloween Candy.
Full Halloween disclosure: I’d rather have a Dairy Queen Snickers Blizzard.
Silver-spotted skipper butterfly found at Angelkeep came in a distant third for this Halloween Day column’s focus. It had dark brown and orange, like the Halloween pennant dragonfly. It added the ghostly white spot on the wings, but the brilliance of the orange on the dragonfly won the day.
Halloween costume parties of olden days always picked winners for scariest, funniest, most beautiful, but never “orangeiest.” “Orangeiest” became a fresh Halloween costume category for Angelkeep’s selection of its winner.
Second place went to the orange-coated triplets of a doe from the past summer. Each came complete with hundreds of spots of white. Their backs looked like an orange sunset filled with an abundance of full moons.
The Halloween pennant dragonfly has an ability different than many of its dragonfly cousins. It can fly in a rainstorm. It can even fly through a stiff wind. Its larger size may be a factor. It also has the intelligence to use its long wings to cover and shade its thorax when it rests in the hot sun.
Another reason for Angelkeep’s selection of Halloween pennant for this column’s focus to be published on Halloween Day includes the fact that the bright orange of the wings of this dragonfly, and the thin crispiness of those wings, remind Angelkeep of a favorite snack. Doritos.
If you place two Doritos triangles, overlapping at a point, between your index and middle (naughty) finger, you somewhat create an image of a Halloween pennant. If you’ve been eating your Doritos for a few minutes, your fingers have taken on orange powder from the chips. A chip sticking out of the fingers on either side resemble dragonfly wings. Well, sort of. Use some imagination.
If you tell the other Halloween party-attenders you are pretending to eat a Halloween pennant dragonfly, then they will only think you are a bit looney. Your sinful gluttony for Doritos can be hidden better than any ghost behind a tombstone.
From Angelkeep: Trick-or-Treat, Smell my feet, Give me something good to eat. Have a boo-ti-ful Halloween.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
