Many legends and lores surround the supposedly mythological creature called the dragon. Such legends of serpent-like beings, some with wings, and some without wings, are extant in every culture on earth. Of course these days, not too many reports of dragons come in...

Does that mean dragons never existed, nor exist today? Why is it then, that there is any body of descriptive information regarding dragons? Are dragons nothing more than a universally entertaining fantasy which have persisted for years despite lack of evidences? (It might be pointed out, that such a global and enduring fantasy has no parallel, except for perhaps the ubiquitous sightings of "little people".)

It has been said, that myths and legends contain some element of truth. The same can be said of dragons. Many of the European dragon legends are involved in stories of battle deeds in which the dragon is typically murdered by some "chivalrous" knight or warrior. Now, if you were a dragon, how would you respond to such news? Do you think you'd go there to find out if those humans would do the same thing to you?

I wouldn't... I would go somewhere they couldn't find me, where I could live my life in peace. I think that is just what the dragons have done. (Can you blame them?)

Perhaps, by this point you have been led to the point of view that this article will be a typical article of speculations and surmises about dragons, based on the typically indirect information regarding dragons we have bits and pieces of, from the days of yore. Nothing could be further from the truth! I have witnessed dragons at first hand, and have made a small study of one of them over the course of several years, after we came to terms.

The first dragon I ever saw in person was a beautiful, majestic, reddish golden creature that had no wings, but literally climbed the air with its rather large but handsome claws. This beautiful specimen looked very like the Chinese depictions of dragons, albeit rather much plainer in appearance, without all the frills around the head and mouth area. But, overall the Chinese renditions do good justice to the appearance of the creature I observed climbing the Western sky that afternoon in the air beyond the Department of Motor Vehicles, which was in the foreground past the apartment building complex parking lot, where I stood that afternoon. I felt most fortunate and blessed, to have seen such magnificent and inspiring beauty, in a clear blue sky!

And I must say at this point, that an unarmed man would stand little chance against the magnificence of the dragon I saw in the Western sky that day, were he forced to fight such a creature. Since I was so far away from it, I really couldn't say how large it actually was, but I can say that it most certainly was large. Large compared to what? Thicker in body than the body of a horse. Perhaps 20 to 30 times longer than a horse. And the claws were huge. But it was unmistakably clear to me, that the personality of the air-dragon was benign, even beneficent, based on my perceptions of its vast freedom... its joy, its power, and the beauty of it, as it climbed the air with its claws. It would grip the air with its claws and pull itself along the air, each leg moving in a succession of grips, as the body undulated sideways, rather snake-like in appearance, but different than a snakes' movements. Stronger, more certain. More like a creature with legs moving across the land, which was the air in this case.

That was the first one. The second one wasn't so pleasant, at first encounter. This one was what I call a water dragon. I first saw it near the grounds of a company which produces water lilies for sale and provides guided tours of its many lovely water lily ponds, which provide the habitat for the lily growing business. I had parked my car across the road and gone for a quiet walk as the sunset was approaching, down the road to the South of the lily ponds. I had a peaceful walk down the road and went quite a distance until I realized it was going to be turning dark soon, and decided I'd best turn back to my car.

As I proceeded along the road back toward my car, I noticed I was feeling uneasy about something to my left and ahead of me. I couldn't see anything which caused any reason for concern, so my discomfort was inexplicable, but still, strongly present. Nevertheless, I continued on the road back to my car, when, as I passed an area to my left where there were no trees or bushes, but a series of telephone poles, I noticed that something was out of place about the one closest to the road. It was encircled, entwined from bottom to three fourths of the way up the length of the pole, by what looked very much like an extremely (!!) overgrown python. It had a black top and a grey underside. Thereupon, it looked right at me and HISSED>>>>> ! It was an unmistakable threat.

I didn't stay around to find out what it was going to do next. I ran back to my car, where I found myself relieved that it hadn't followed me. There, sitting in my car, I thought it was so odd, that maybe I was seeing things, or imagining things, due to the dimming light. But that hiss was unmistakable. The sound it made wouldn't go away, when I tried to tell myself that it was just my overactive imagination.

Eventually I had to admit to myself that the entire sequence was real, that it had really happened, that there was really something there. Thinking back on it now, I realize it was only bluffing, and it really hadn't any intentions of going after me. If it had, I might not be writing this article now. I just got to thinking about how fast some of the large snakes can move across the land, and my instinct tells me that catching me would have been a rather casual affair for it, had it wanted me for supper. Besides, we've since gotten to know each other...

More on the water dragon later. I'll just say for now, that water dragons have been around on this planet for many centuries. The water dragon of my acquaintance has informed me of how it used to go hunting rabbits along the edges of the glaciers when they were near here. Based on that, this particular water dragon is probably hundreds of thousands of years old.

And that water dragons have the uncanny ability to become invisible to normal human sight and standard instrumentations, at will. In this regard, they bear a resemblance to the various "little people" who are also normally invisible to human sight. Water dragons are extremely reticent creatures who avoid people as much as possible. But some, such as my friend, have taken some offense at the damage humanity has been doing to the environment and the habitat.

So, on occasion, my water dragon friend has taken it upon himself to simply frighten people. He seems to think that doing any little something is better than not doing anything about the situation. Besides, he knows that people are a threat, and that they could kill him, if they ever found him and had weapons available. So he avoids people with weapons available. Unarmed and uncivilized people are at risk of being frightened by him, if they wander into his domains. But in all of his long history, he has never harmed any person in any way. In fact, he gave a ride on his back, in the river, to a hitchhiker after I'd introduced them to each other. But that guy was harmless and cared about all life. So the water dragon took a liking to him...         The water dragon I know, is actually the sweetest thing...

Turns out the locals here have been seeing this dragon, on and off, for years, and have come to associate him with a particular crossroads near an old sawmill.

Anyway. More later, if you-all are interested in hearing more about real dragons.