Screened from reality

A long time ago screens were removed from my old house. They were perfectly good screens - just not usable on the newly installed windows. They became home for I don't know how many or what kind of insects but they must have been tasty ones because spiders took over for pantries. I stirred and dislodged the spiders regularly when I cleaned up that portion of the yard. The screen looked like it would allow the wonderful sunny dry air to caress the water out of fruit. Each summer for years I propped the screens on saw horses and dried apricots with another screen on top to thwart the interest of flying feeders.
It's been several years since I took the time to dry fruit so the screens just hung around acting like city workers leaning against their shovels. I decided to throw out some of my accumulations to make more space for relaxing in the back yard and my eyes narrowed as I contemplated those screens. The aluminum frames were warped and I could part with them so the screening was cut out and left to - you know what - accumulate dirt, leaves and more spiders.
I had better things to do than worry about overfed spiders. There were appearances to make on behalf of the McNary National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center where I am volunteer education director. One request came from Hermosa school library to encourage summer reading under the theme "Dragons, Dreams, and Daring Deeds" Intriguing don't you think? A dragon ought to engage kids right up to their eyeballs. When I looked for material with which to make a frame I found the screen and envisioned the three dimensional figure of a dragon that kids could cover with paper mache. So that's what is happening. A screen dragon will become a lovely addition to a school library while I tell the kids all about how dragons are not real but they look like vertebrates of which humans are another species. Oh I can fill them with little tidbits that will peak their curiosity and make them think about their own spines and a few other things.
It's been many years since I've sculpted anything and never before in wire. I should play with a new concept every day!
Naomi Sherer