Helicopters and Dragonflies

I can't remember how far back my passionate hatred for helicopters goes. Even the fact that my (airplane) flight instructor was also a helicopter pilot hasn't helped. They are as noisy as cars used to be and trucks and buses sometimes still are. They are invasive and seem threatening. It's an irrational anger, but isn't most anger irrational?

The Na Pali coast is a good place to hate helicopters. Here you've hiked anywhere between 5 and 12 hours to "get away from it all", and instead what you get from sunrise to sunset is buzzing mechanical bees cruising high above your head.

It helps that the Na Pali coast itself is very spiritually nurturing. I remember thinking, as one helicopter went by on my way in, that I'd much rather be slowly inching my way along the coastline with a pack on my back than be stuck in a noisy glass box, without enought time to really see and appreciate all the beauty around me.

Once I got to Kalalau beach, at the end of the Na Pali trail, I found huge dragonflies, maybe 5 or 6 inches long. They are beautiful and impressive. They may be unchanged from before the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth. They are graceful and fast, can fly in place. In everything except actual size and in being quiet, these beautiful, friendly dragonflies look a lot like helicopters.