BLOG: What I Learned Today
Fireflies of Enlightenment
August 08, 2008
Joy comes to me in many ways. For the last few days, I have been hunting fireflies. Not really hunting but wanting to see them. I remember hearing about them in stories I read as a child growing up in Los Angeles, but I had never actually experienced the excitement that a little flash of light can create until about a week ago. In all honesty, at first I thought it might be a detached retina or a visual hallucination.
But on with the story. I was out walking Tudor the Terrific after his dinner about a week ago when I was waylaid by a rather chatty neighbor who was returning from his evening walk. As we were standing making small talk, I ruled out the aforementioned possible sources of the dancing flashes I was seeing. When I asked, "Did you see that?" He said that he had and that he hadn't seen any fireflies for a number of years. I responded that they were the first I had ever seen. We parted soon after and I continued on my walk.
The next night, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen for a while and she decided to park her car and join me on my walk so we could catch up. The fireflies were out again. I felt the original thrill of the night before and maybe it was even a little greater because she was excited too. There seemed to be many more that night and I swear that we were giggling as we walked.
Since then, I have gone out each evening at dusk and morning before light, hoping to experience the little bugs. Last night, I saw one. The night before, none. The night before that, there was one in my backyard, as consolation for none on the walk. I have never seen one in the morning. I must admit I really am disappointed. It may be the end of their season and I may have to wait until next year.
Today, I looked fireflies up on Wikipedia. Among other interesting facts, I read: "Many species can be found in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food." Could fireflies be the rainbow at the end of our wet Spring?
