| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sillyfoulks |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 06:14:37 AM
Yesterday evening, after returning from and early evening outting to town, the children and I took a few minutes to sit outside, and enjoy the most wonderous sight. This is our third summer here in Illinois, and the sight of thousands, no millions or billions, of fireflies still feels like such a magical thing. The surrounding cornfields, now knee high, are the perfect play ground.
A flash! A twinkle! A sparkle! Now you see me! Now you don't! Billions of little stars playing hide and seek amongst the corn. Such a precious, magical, and beautiful sight, like glistening diamonds. You can't help but reach out to capture it's beauty.
While sitting there I couldn't help but wonder what people thought of them when they were sighted for the first time ever. Mysterious and allusive! Was it a sign from the gods? Was the sky falling? Was it an omen?
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| YiberryYadeeKarin |
Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 8:35:30 PM
Elizabeth!
Thanks for sharing! Great description of those special little critters!
We out west don't have them. I've seen them in places such as Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, New York... I'm thinking they live in more humid areas than out here.
I hope you and your kids keep enjoying them!
Karin |
| Whimsy_girl |
Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 2:03:02 PM
Oh that sounds lovely! Thank you for sharing that with us it put a smile on my face!
you can be oh so smart, or you can be oh so positive. I wasted a lot of time being smart I prefer being positive. |
| sunshine |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 8:59:43 PM
I grew up in california and now live in utah and have vacationed in arizona nevada idaho wyoming south dakota and north dakota I have yet to see this bug. Is it strickly a souther phenominom
have a lovely day |
| truebluecountrygirl |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 8:28:08 PM
Oh, Elizabeth - What a wonderful, magical description! I grew up outside of Philadelphia, and we always had fireflies. I remember catching them in the jar with the holes poked in the top, too! That's one thing I really miss about the East - but you can keep the Japanese beetles!
Karen |
| Libbie |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 10:28:34 PM
Since I live in Utah, too - I've only seen fireflies once in my life when I visited Washington D.C. in high school. I was absolutely in awe - your descriptions are wonderful. I SO hope that I can show my sons fireflies while they are young. It IS magical!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| Mumof3 |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 1:25:36 PM
Fireflies are the one insect that still set my children's hearts a flutter! As old as they are, the magic is still there. I love the anticipation of where they will flicker next. Thank you for sharing that special moment with us.
Karin |
| theherblady |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 12:49:22 PM
It seems we have more than usual this year too~~Blinking, Blinking everywhere~~!
Jan |
| serenity1652 |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 10:22:51 AM
We have tons of lightnen bugs here....My kids like to catch them an watch them glow.
"May all of your farm girl dreams come true...as mine has"
http://shallowcreekfarm.blogspot.com/ |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 10:22:35 AM
I have never seen fireflies!! I hope I do some day!!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| sonflowergurl |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 09:08:52 AM
Thanks for that! Your description is perfect! I sooooo miss watching and catching fireflies, my kids are missing out on that... We're visiting my MIL in WV this summer, so I'm sure we'll get the chance to see them. I miss seeing them floating above the wheat fields and meadow on my parents' farm in Kansas, so magical and mesmerizing!
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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| Merryday |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 08:37:43 AM
What a beautiful moment to share with your children. It is true... the best things in life are free. My one year old delights in a blade of grass and dandelion seeds are the cat's pajamas.
Thank you for sharing this magical moment, they are what life is made of.
"As you travel through life, remember your goal, keep your eye on the doughnut, and not on the hole" - something my Pop used to say |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 08:09:22 AM
I grew up in Illinois, too. Springfield, as a matter of fact. All those summer evenings, I ran through the neighborhood equipped with a little jar and a top poked with holes so "the little lights" could breath. As I went to sleep beside my open window, I watched the little buggers light up the jar. That smell! Such a distinctive smell, that I can go right back to those summer nights when I catch a lightning bug now. And in a farm pasture, it is quite a sight. I am so glad you got to enjoy that Elizabeth. Like Georgeann, I miss those farm fields and that dry summer breeze of Illinois.
Peace |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 07:58:59 AM
georgeann .. that camping trip got even more eventful .. that night, all snuggled in our tent ... i woke up to loud GROWLING .. and "rustling abou" .. outside our tent .. when this huge 'thing' outside started circling and bumping the tent .. i thought i was about to do something VERY unromantic .. like pooping my pants! my friend shot straight up .. and put his hand over my mouth and his finger in front of his lips with a non-audible 'shhhhhhh'. i FROZE solid as mama or papa bear continued their vigil! we had a metal food locker (thank gawd OUTSIDE the tent) .. heard more scrambling around as i sat there more scared than i probably ever had been up to that time in my life!
eventually, he/she scampered off into the woods without creating a new doorway and introducing his/her self!!!
i did not sleep a wink that night! first rays of dawn, we got up to inspect .. and our cooler had been carried a little ways into the woods .. OPENED .. and only a bread-wrapper was left!
NEEDLESS to say .. i don't EVER camp .. where there is food that is not HUNG from a tree (but then .. can't bears climb trees???)
xo
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
| Aunt George |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 07:09:58 AM
How beautiful. I grew up in Illinois and miss it so, so much. I graduated from Jacksonville High near Springfield. My mother and 3 siblings still live around there: Springfield, Petersburg and Kane. I remember the fireflys only we called them lightening bugs back then. I love the corn fields, Iowa and Illinois have such tall corn. Here in Virginia it is tobacco, no cotton...boy would I like to see a cotton field. My mother used to pick it as a girl growing up.
Anyway...ah sweet memories, thank you And Frannie, your campout memory is like something out of a fairytale!
Hugs and good wishes,
Georgann |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 06:55:09 AM
oh my gosh elizabeth .. last night we had that very same 'lightening' show! we were driving on the backroads of Kentucky (coming from a movie theatre in a nearby-town) past many, many farms .. pastures and fields of cows and corn .. and i don't think i remember ever seeing such a magnificent display of twinkling! we kept going down back and windy roads just for this experience.
once, many years ago, i was dating a young 'doctor' (not medical) that was a scientist for NASA .. (he was soooooooooo HANDSOME .. looked like Omar Shariff, the actor) ... he took me camping one weekend to collect (are you ready for this!!) lightening bug larvae! it had something to do with research he was doing on DNA .. we walked forest paths .. suddenly i heard running water .. as it got louder and louder .. i felt that any moment, we could slip into a raging river .. only had our flashlights .. no moon out that night. we got to a huge rock outcropping .. and he had me duck down and look UNDER this rock ledge .. it was one of the most amazing sights i've ever seen .. it looked like New York City at night with millions of twinkling lights. AWESOME .. thanks for sharing your story and bringing back to mind this sweet experience i had in life!
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
| sugarsfarm |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 06:30:45 AM
That is one of my most favorite things to watch on the farm!!
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi |
