Thursday
Lightning Bugs
Do you have lightning bugs where you live? I was in high school on a trip to Mountain Home, Arkansas, before I saw my first lightning bug, and a college graduate before I lived anyplace that had them. "Sam and the Firefly" was one of my favorite books as a kid, but I began to wonder if lightning bugs fell into the tooth fairy and Easter bunny category -- you could believe but never see! Troy thought I was so childish when we lived in Central Texas -- where he had grown up -- and I would get SO excited to see lightning bugs. I was so glad that my children would have them in their childhood memories -- only now they don't. Do lightning bugs boycott my neighborhood or is it all of West Texas? I suspect the wind is a little violent for them to light up around here. And I guess the air is a little too soggy for them to light up in Louisiana where I grew up. So for 10 brief years I lived where there were lightning bugs -- for some reason I really only remember seeing them after we moved into our house, though, which would make it only 6 years. Anyway, I miss the little flashlights of summer.
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Oh, oh! How exciting! Yes, we've been visiting Iowa and Michigan and have been seeing lightning bugs here. I can't tell you how exciting that's been.
The other night we were out for a walk (which Husband likes to do after dark here so we can watch the bugs), and one of the little guys couldn't seem to turn his off--it was just stuck on ON. Made him much easier to catch, and then we let him go.
I wish we had lightning bugs in Washington state. Maybe they're migrating north from you-all in response to global warming.
Even though I lived only 20 short miles away, we regularly had lightning bugs at my house. . .and one time when I was driving back to 835 Vista from Houston, I entered a stretch of roadway drenched in fireflies. . .it was near Abilene because it was a spot where they had blasted the middle out of a butte to build the road.
I think it has to do with long grass and just the right amount of dampness.
I saw one this weekend when we were walking across the pasture from Sissy's house back to Momma and Daddy's. I was sure there was an entire bundle of them about to show up, but there were also two strange dogs in the pasture that didn't belong to anyone I knew, so I hustled my own "little fireflies" back to Mamaw's house.
I miss them too.
R--
I remember seeing lots of the critters in the Buffalo Gap/ Abilene State park area. It has been some years since I have been in a position to see them there though.
I don't think I have ever seen a lightning bug before...
The only place I've ever seen fireflies was at my grandparents lakehouse when I was a kid. Maybe they need a little bit of wet? I'd love to see them again
I have to admit that I, like Troy, have smooshed a lightning bug or two on my clothes to make me glow. We had them lots where I grew up.
Robert says it isn't wet enough to have ligtening bugs... I do think I have seen them out here in the boonies, though! Who knows... can we import them?
I forgot to mention that Robert was in 4H and has lots of random information about critters of all kinds in his head! He did say he remembers them at the state park...
Sarah - another friend of mine had done a post on lightning bugs just days before you were talking about them, here is her link.
wherethegreengrassgrows-eastwardho.blogspot.com/
she is the daughter of our preacher in the church where I grew up at. They just left the rat race for the hills.
I grew up in central Illinois and we had tons and tons of them. During the summer when we could stay up late we'd catch them and put them in a jar and poke holes in the lid for air. We don't have many around here and even back home there are not as many. Maybe they are dying out due to global warming or climate changes or pollution. I don't know, but I miss them.
First of all, have you noticed how many of us are as interested in lightning bugs as you. . .and secondly, I got online to see what's up with the lightning bug in general and found this. . .
"South Carolina Wildlife had an interesting article last year about lightning bugs heading for extinction due to diminishing habitat. Seems with the growing urbanization or rural areas they are loosing out to street lights, neon, etc. They need dark areas to flash their come hither lights. Thats how they attract mates. My area is still dark but I have seen very few of them in the 7 years I've been here."
Evidently things are tough all over. Very sad.
I've only seen lightening bugs once in my life, in Ohio, I think, when I was a child on vacation to visit grandparents.
I wish we had them here in the Pacific Northwest.
Ohhh ... I love lightning bugs! I lived in Ohio the first 6 years of my life and can remember chasing them. We moved to Arizona when I was 7 and I finished my "growing up" years there. I then moved to California at 18 to go to college and never moved away. There are no lightning bugs in AZ or CA (not that I've seen) and I had all but forgotten about them until 4 years ago on a trip to Nashville.
Around dusk I noticed a flash out of the corner of my eye. Thought a light bulb on the grounds had flickered. Suddenly a host of little lights started flickering all around me! I was absolutely entranced. Couldn't pull myself away. It was magical.
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