After the Rain (and an addition)

[EDIT] My wife and I went on a rather nice walk this evening.  We were walking past a little river, when we were attacked by a flock (or whatever you'd call a large amount of..) dragonflies.  I have never seen dragonflies like this...the color and body looked normal, but they flew in the strangest way.  Basically, they would beat their wings once or twice, which would cause them to rise just a little, then they would start to drop, and only after they dropped a few inches would they beat their wings again.  Now mind you, they were beating their wings every second, its not like it was at a 10 second interval or something, but normally they are beating their wings a bunch of times in a second.  Not just once.  Anyone know what kind of dragonfly this is?

When Dragons Fly

These are probably the most lethargic bugs I've ever seen.  Someone, anyone, please tell me what kind it is.  

It rained this morning.  Not too heavily, but it definitely rained.  When I walked out this morning, I was bombarded with buds and petals covered in the aftermath of the rain.  Droplets.  Even though I'm not too huge on flower photography, I have a hard time not shooting the little pearls of water that end up resting on their petals.

The Stamen and the Petal

The stamen, as well as the petal's edge remind me of some sea creature.  The way the droplets are lined up on the edge make it look like a tentacle of sorts.

 

Black Hole

This flower, surrounded by darkness, reminds me of a black hole.  The reflecting rain drops make for decent stars, trapped within the event horizon.

Linear Park

Ephrata, the town in which I currently reside, has a nice little walking and biking path.  They call it Linear Park.  Much of the trail is currently covered with pretty little yellow petals.  Observe.

 Linear Park

This photo seems to continue yesterday's photo for Fall idea.  Though it appears otherwise, this really was taken today.

Beautifying the Ugly

I can't say I find them ugly, but there are strange bud-like things in my backyard that appear dead.  They have a paper thin petal that looks like a dried autumn leaf, minus the vibrant colors.  I can only assume a few people would consider them ugly. 
I decided to do everything I could to make them beautiful.  Here is the result.  Did I succeed?

Reaching Bud

The color contrast and soft edges make the image much less offensive than the actual bud.