Magic Bugs
I was just sitting on the back porch watching the last of the day's light give over to total darkness. I had been enjoying the sparkles on the meadow of lightning bugs rising up from the grass and flashing their presence to the world. When we first become old enough to realize such things, these magic little bugs become an adventure. You just have to capture some and put them in a bottle to have your own personal firefly lantern. Once I forgot to release my half dozen or so bugs and they were dead the next day. I never captured them again. I've held my hand in the path of one and allowed them to land on me. If you hold your hand up they will climb to the highest finger and launch into the air again.
The 23 years I lived in the southwest I never saw a lightning bug, so it's such a pleasure to have that little bit of magic in my evenings once again. I loved the southwest with it's amazing vistas, mountains, the surprise of the brilliance of cactus blooms in the spring, and wide open spaces. I still have it's sands running in my veins, but the midwest has equal numbers of delights. I love the thick woods behind the house, four seasons, waterfalls and streams, the profusion of growing plants and lightning bugs. Isn't America an amazing place?
The 23 years I lived in the southwest I never saw a lightning bug, so it's such a pleasure to have that little bit of magic in my evenings once again. I loved the southwest with it's amazing vistas, mountains, the surprise of the brilliance of cactus blooms in the spring, and wide open spaces. I still have it's sands running in my veins, but the midwest has equal numbers of delights. I love the thick woods behind the house, four seasons, waterfalls and streams, the profusion of growing plants and lightning bugs. Isn't America an amazing place?
posted by Fish-2 at 7:35 AM
4 Comments:
Having spent the first half of my life in the upper midwest and the latter half out west, I admit to missing the fireflies. According to http://hymfiles.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/frfact.html the species does not live west of central Kansas. They apparently thrive in wet swampy places. (and, as you note, do not
do well in a bottle!)
We are in the midwest and have plenty of lightening bugs, even though we aren't swampy. Well... we're pretty swampy right now, come to think of it. It rained for over a week and Walt and I were beginning to wonder if we should start building an ark. LOL! Seriously, it looks like we have lake front property.
Idaho, unlike Gayles situation, it's been just the oposite of swampy around here. I'm having to paint my grass green it's been so dry. Of course we have the dew of a night.
Gayle, quit hoggin' all the rain and let a little of it drift northeast.
my first sight of a firefly was when we visited our daughter in Dover DE where her husband was in airforce,
Our one year old grandson put one in his mouth and I nearly freaked out -- he opened his mouth and I could see it lighting up the inside -- it was super crazy.
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