Most people know about Lightning Bugs, cute little flying beetles with bottoms that light up at dusk to facilitate one task all life forms are driven to accomplish – reproduction.
In Middle Tennessee, our Lightning Bugs have returned, they come out once the sun is well below the horizon and produce a bright yellow green light that blinks on and off in the gathering night.
Sitting outside in the warm night air, we watched as the darkness of the woods was lit by the twinkling lights and mating rituals of the Lightning Bugs, or Fireflies as known to non-Southerners, meeting and creating beautiful luminescence together.
Close your eyes and think back to the long hot summers of childhood.
Playing outside until late in the evening, sitting on the front porch eating ice-cold watermelon slices, listening to the crickets chirp, and the tree frogs sing.
Remember catching Lightning Bugs and keeping them in a Mason jar ?
They glowed beside you all night long sitting on your night table....
Innocence and childhood going hand in hand.
We cannot recapture our childhood, but we can still enjoy the magic of the Lightning Bugs, nature's living lanterns............
Time in Cheshire, England 
17 comments:
yes I remember all you describe...the soft warm nights before the heat of summer...the lightning bugs rising from the grass into the darkening of the day into night...chasing them...holding one in my hand and watching it blink off and on...life was good and in my innocence I thought it would always remain so!
I want some to be my friends,, oh the fun we would have!
love
tweedles
I look forward each year to those little fellows making their first appearance! It's still too cold here and will be for a while yet but I know at some point this summer I will glance outside the window and there they will be lighting up the yard, bringing back great memories with them as they come!
Have a super weekend Jo!
Tina xo
Definitely spent a good part of my childhood looking for the little guys and catching some. It is really magical to see them in a meadow blinking off and on!
I have never lived anywhere that had these little guys. I am envious. :-)
Ohhoooo
I remember the lightening bugs. We lived in a rural area and at night there were hundreds of them. But now, chemicals sprayed for mosquitos have killed them off. Also the honey Bees, and untold other important insects are in danger.
That does bring back memories Jo! Granny wouldn't let us have her canning jars so we used empty mayo jars. We don't see as many fireflies here in Florida now. I think it's because they spray so heavily for mosquitoes they're killing the fireflies too.
Here in East Tennessee, I haven't seen the first sign of a lightning bug. Usually they are one of the special parts of May, though, so perhaps I've not been outside in the dark when I should have.:)
jo
I would love them in this country!
reminds me of the the film PITCH BLACK
x
Oh, they are fun, aren't they? We usually don't see them until June..but with this weird weather maybe they will be early like the flowers were!
I remember lightning bugs first as a child growing up in Africa...mystical and wonderful
Jo, The comment from snapper II is so true , it's scary. But as a child, I caught lightning bugs. They were a treasure that all kids could have. :):) Smiles, Susie
Who doesn't love lightning bugs?!!! Just thinking about them brings back childhood memories-- they make me think of sultry summer nights--
Vicki
Oh, you were nice and humane to your lightning bugs (I think only Yankees call them fireflies)!lol
Best friend "C" and I pinched off those "lights" and stuck them on our ring fingers. I still remember the weird pungent odor those bugs gave off!
I DO love summer!
V
As a child I would read about lightning bugs in books and became quite jealous of our American cousins who could catch them in their gardens.
I was sure I could find them in the UK at the bottom of our garden. I tried, tried and tried to find the non-existant critters and assumde they were just really clever at hiding. as opposed to being 4000 miles away!
Childhood optimism, you can't beat it!
Paul
Serendipity1 i jsut posted a piece on these here:
http://creativetuesdays.blogspot.com/2012/05/lovebugs-57.html
What is funny, is you know, I have never actually EVER seen them in real life? Want to though.
Lightning bugs are on my Gotta See list! Thanks for the good wishes on my rhubarb growing. Your blog is just lovely--the photos on your header have me drooling here in our dry and windy Nevada spring.
~pogonip
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