I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in the fifties in an area that was more rural than city. There were many overgrown vacant lots filled with wildflowers and abandoned fruit trees for us to play in and I actually had a dairy farm right across the street from our house. Unfortunately for the cows, there was no room for them to roam so they were basically stall kept 24/7 until they were replaced with fresh cows. Even at a young age this seemed very unfair to me. But back to the dragon flies... I had completely forgotten that we also called them darning needles. Most of the other kids would run when they saw them, thinking that they would get stung or bitten,(I guess that having the word 'needle' in their name didn't help) but I was always fascinated by them and loved watching them hover and then dart away looking for another meal. Good memories!
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in the fifties in an area that was more rural than city. There were many overgrown vacant lots filled with wildflowers and abandoned fruit trees for us to play in and I actually had a dairy farm right across the street from our house. Unfortunately for the cows, there was no room for them to roam so they were basically stall kept 24/7 until they were replaced with fresh cows. Even at a young age this seemed very unfair to me. But back to the dragon flies... I had completely forgotten that we also called them darning needles. Most of the other kids would run when they saw them, thinking that they would get stung or bitten,(I guess that having the word 'needle' in their name didn't help) but I was always fascinated by them and loved watching them hover and then dart away looking for another meal. Good memories!