Last evening I stepped outside to do some yardwork when I was amazed by the number of lightning bugs floating gracefully over my yard.
This evening I allowed Sasha to stay up extra late just so he could have his first firefly experience. I wish I could have gotten a good photo of him, as he sat on the wooden airplane swing his great grandfather had made, swinging slowly with a great grin on his mouth, while fireflies danced and flashed all around him.
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Really, all you see are these little yellow flashes in the dusk, Palliard, about 1-3 feet off the ground.
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I love fireflies. They come out in force during the Summer here. I was over at my best friend's house the other night and a small swarm of them settled over the hot tub we were in. Made for some really cool mood lighting.
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I have to say, fireflies were one of the coolest things about Nebraska. Coming from California, I had never seen them before, so for the first few minutes I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, because I kept catching little flashes off to the side.
I'll stick with CA, but it would be nice if there were fireflies here.
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Palliard, do you have box elder bugs where you are? They kinda look like those, but they don't have the same annoying habits. And they have a pretty glowy light on their bottoms that slowly blinks on and off as they fly in the night--they are so beautiful and magical! That wiki picture was a little creepy-- here's another image, and another .
They're fun to catch and release--they will light up in your hand while you hold them. I think there were more of them when I was a child than there are now, but that could just be that I spent more time playing outdoors in the evening.
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None of these pictures catch the magic that is lightning bugs. (We don't call them fireflies here.)
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Some say, for every lighting bug you catch and set free, a wish comes true.
Palliard, imagine sitting outside on a dark night. Suddenly, a yellow light flashes. Then another! And another! You walk over and one flashes right in front of you. You catch it. When you open your hands, a little bug is inside. It flies up and flashes a light on it's tail. All around you, lightning bugs flash. Slowly, but they seem to dance.
We call them fireflies and lighning bugs here. Usually lightning bugs though.
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I grew up in Texas, so seeing them is always a real treat for me.
