June is the best month for fireflies. Once, long ago, I walked down by the Rappahannock river in a field of trees cut down by beavers, whitened spears in the early dark, with hundreds of fireflies flashing against the trees.
Tonight there were fewer, but still many, past dusk but not quite full dark. The thunderheads of early evening had moved off west, still flickering with lightning from cloud to cloud. We caught one, put it in a jar with holes in the lid for a while, then let it go. The horses came down to see what we were about. The air smelled of rain.
We call them "lightning bugs" here in Georgia, more often than "fireflies." They're among my favorite things.
16 comments:
We always called them lightning bugs, too. And when we lived in NC it was one of the coolest early childhood moments to see the VES's face light up with each flickering, fluttering fly-by.
*sigh*
And now she has a driver's license and has just left for a 10 day trip to Canada with her youth group. Where does the time go?
[H]e had searched by the stream by which she had prayed to the stones, and the pool where she prayed to the stars; he had called her name up every tower, and had called it wide in the dark, and had had no answer but echo; and so he had come at last to the witch Ziroonderel."Whither?" he said, saying no more than that, that the boy might not know his fears. Yet Orion knew.
And Ziroonderel all mournfully shook her head. "The way of the leaves," she said. "The way of all beauty."
I love them too, and have always called them lightning bugs. We used to have them in Houston when I was young, but not recently. Apparently they've quite sensitive to pesticide. We were happy to find that we have them here in Rockport, though they come and go. Some nights they're quite thick and beautiful, all the way back into the woods. "The golden apples of the sun, the silver apples of the moon . . . ."
I have noticed that the pattern of flashes differs in different geographical areas...comparing the DC area, the Philadelphia area, and Minneapolis, they were all noticeably different.
That is my favorite of Yeats' work, Tex. What a beautiful poem.
IED mines.
David, I had always heard that the flashing patterns were a mating ritual. I'm sure there's a joke to be made in there somewhere, but alas a too early morning and not enough caffeine yet in the day leaves it standing along side the whistlestop while my train of thought rushes on by.
0>;~]
I always enjoyed the lightning bugs, and there were lots of them in San Antonio and Columbia, Maryland. There are none here in San Diego, and I miss them (but not the mosquitos).
Valerie
DLS...yes, I would guess it is a mating signal. Wonder how sensitive FF1 is to the exact flash pattern of FF2?
"Sorry, Susan, I'll always value our friendship, but I just can't be attracted to a woman with a 1 HZ flash rate"
They danced in the open field behind my apartment when I was at Flat State U. Since it was a basement apartment, I was slightly below, looking up toward the lightning bugs. It was a treat to watch. And I grew up calling them lightning bugs.
LittleRed1
We called them both interchangeably. And in the same meadow in Wisconsin I saw three or four different patterns of flashing. I'd not seen that before; always just one type.
Tonight there was one waiting for me when I got home from work. I caught it, held it for a moment until it crawled out through my gently closed fingers, and resumed its hover near the back deck.
Now that's magic.
And David, you owe me some screen cleaner.
0>;~]
I've never seen a lightning bug... It's one of those things I must do someday.
More proof that you should move to Texas.
OK, I know California has other natural wonders that probably make up for the loss.
It's almost all that keeps me here anymore- that and family.
Post a Comment