FIREFLIES REVISITED

I say revisited because, though I did write a brief piece on them at the beginning of the year, last night was the first time I’d seen them dance since we moved to South Carolina.

Last night, on our way home from Father’s Day dinner at our son's house, just after 9 p.m., we noticed lots of firefly activity in the woods and brushy areas around his house. I was driving and could easily have been distracted so, needless to say, we had to stop for a while and delight our eyes. Then when we got back to our own area and wound our way through the streets, we saw more fireflies dancing in the brushy areas here between the sections. Now, just before full dark, must be the right time for the fireflies to twinkle here, not the later upstate New York time of the summer.

As I said before: 

Butterflies are enchantment on wings in the sunshine

                        Fireflies are enchantment for and early summer evening

                     

FIREFLIES

Fireflies!

 

This is a time-lapse photo of fireflies, taken by the Japanese amateur photographer Tsuneaki Hiramatsu. You can see more of his photos in this month's issue of Smithsonian or at their on-line magazine.

 

I love fireflies. What kid - girl or boy - doesn't love to capture them, just for a while, in a jar and watch their fascinating light?  What adult doesn't want to do the same thing? Frank and I did it in our meadow and woods when we lived in rural upstate New York. We had a hard time of it though because the fireflies seemed to get scarcer and scarcer each year.

 

Butterflies are enchantment on wings in the sunshine.

 

fireflies are enchantment for an early summer evening.