Fireflies are active
males flashing under the stars
as their ladies wait
Cori MacNaughton
One of the things that has most enthralled me, since moving to Tennessee, is our thriving population of fireflies.
I've heard of fireflies all my life, and have many friends who grew up catching them in jars and enjoying their glow into the night, but growing up on the West Coast, I had never seen them. Until recent years, there were no fireflies west of the Mississippi River.
The first firefly I ever saw, live and in person, was a lone firefly on the grounds of Osceola High School, in Seminole, Florida, during an evening walk with my former spouse. It was fairly amazing that we even saw him, as the schools are known for spraying their grounds, and he seemed to have been the lone survivor. I was thrilled to see him at the time, but knowing what I know now about their life cycle, a lone firefly is incredibly sad.
The next fireflies I saw were when I first started dating Marek, a couple of years after my divorce, as he lived in an apartment complex on Lake Seminole, and the grounds included a section of protected mangrove swamp, which was entirely unsprayed, allowing a small population of fireflies to be active on warm evenings.
In 2009, when we first started looking for our dream property, one of the things I loved the most was seeing the fireflies on the sides of the roads as we were driving through the countryside. And of all the every properties we saw, those that had fireflies active on the grounds gained a few significant points from me, and were highly regarded just for that.
Fast forward to moving here, and because our property was not sprayed for at least two years prior to our moving here, an because we are bordered on our eastern side by the Calfkiller River, we have a large and thriving population of fireflies. On warm evenings, particularly after a rain, our woods are a firefly fairyland.
Over the past couple of weeks they have not been terribly active, because it has been so very hot and dry, but once we got a couple of brief showers, the fireflies once again made themselves known, as the males flew high above, trying to attract the attention and favor of the females waiting below.
Tonight, as we sat by our fire pit, the fireflies were particularly active in the woods just beyond the house, and I was delighted to see them. They are, they always have been, a lovely and magical part of the evening sky.
When viewed beneath our clear starry skies, the fireflies transport me back to my own childhood, which Marek occasionally claims I never left, which, naturally, is entirely true. I am grateful to have retained my childlike sense of wonder. ;-)
And I would love to hear your take in the comments.
For the Alliance - Day 120 - Daily Haiku - My Application to join The Alliance
Speaking Words of Love - Day 119 - Daily Haiku
Speaking My Own Truth - Day 118 - Daily Haiku - and some Questions for Empaths and Lightworkers
Buddies to the end - Our cat Miod and our dog Lolo - Daily Pet Photography
Loveliest Flower - Day 117 - Daily Haiku
Sweet Little Kitty - Day 116 - Daily Haiku
When I Was Shot At - Golden State Killer - Day 115 - Daily Haiku - part 2
Golden State Killer - Day 114 - Daily Haiku - part 1
To Our Mockingbird - Day 113 - Daily Haiku
To Write a Haiku - Day 112 - Daily Haiku - Photography
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All words and images are my own.
The photo above is one I took on 27 April 2019 with my Samsung Note 8 smart phone. I love moonlit nights.
The photo of our dog, Lolo, and our late cat, Miod, I took as they were cooperatively begging at the dinner table, despite our longstanding rule of not feeding them from the table.
You can see how much that deterred them both.
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