Thursday, May 24, 2012

Welcome Home Old Friend!

I love living in Virginia because of the distinct change of seasons.  We all know that when leaves begin to fall autumn is here. And when flowers awaken from their winters sleep we know that spring has indeed sprung. But on nights like tonight, when I see the first lightning bug of the year it’s like welcoming home an old friend--One who’s been gone for months and now suddenly comes back bringing with it the feeling of summer!  As a kid there was always a feeling of wonder as I caught one of these little critters and then watched it slowly climb to the highest part of my finger, spread it’s wings and fly away.

Like so many kids would do, I'd capture them and put them in an old jar (mason jars worked the best) with holes poked in the lid from the sharpest and usually my Mom's best kitchen knife.  Then I’d fill the jar with long blades of grass to contain my treasures. 
Of course at some point the lights in the jar would start to go out as the lightning bugs would begin to succumb to the lack of air--And with that, I’d have to release them on my Mom's demands.

But it's nights like tonight when I have no interest in watching television or doing anything inside because there's a pretty good show right outside my window.

39 comments:

  1. I'm so jealous. The Pacific NW doesn't have lightning bugs and I so miss them. I grew up in Missouri and spent many nights watching them.
    Enjoy!! ~Joyce

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  2. I haven't seen any of ours yet, but every night when I take my dog out in the dark I am always looking around for them. I am sure they will be here soon.

    Cindy

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  3. What a very beautiful post! I can just imagine the lightning bugs! Oh how I have always wished they would come visit with their little lanterns and put on a show for us!
    We are glad you get that show- and you can share it with us!
    love
    tweedles

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  4. I miss catching those! I haven't seen them since I left the midwest :(

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

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  5. We have something similar we call fire-flys but only in the northern tropics of Australia - sadly none here in Adelaide! A lovely post!

    Rubie's mum xxx

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  6. I've seen a few here during the day, but none at night yet... cute post of days gone by. :)

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  7. I have never caught one of those. I have seen them but never wanted to capture them. I would not be inside either if the skies were as beautiful here as yours are. We have had yucky weather with lots of rain, floods, and humidity.
    Your blue skies are gorgeous.
    TFS. ANA

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  8. Amazing photo! I always feel like a kid again when I see lightning bugs. Glad you enjoyed the night.

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  9. Wow!..that's so nice to have. We don't get these little creatures putting on a light show here...poor us:(

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  10. Great little post, Kim. :o)

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  11. I have never seen a lightning bug. Bug when MOM was a kid she would visit her aunt and uncle in VA. and then as an adult she lived there for a year and she just loved the lightning bugs. We don't have them here, I think I might be missing something wonderful.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  12. The first lightning bugs of the year always make me happy, too! It's like a little bit of childhood magic that never disappears! :)

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  13. The best show on earth!! Great picture of the lightening bug!! :)

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  14. How pretty! We don't get the light up bugs here. Wish we did. Smiley would enjoy it.

    Slobbers,
    The CheeseHounds

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  15. Beautiful shots Kim! That first one is super!

    Yep, watching the lightning bug take flight after the sun sets is a favorite pastime of mine. We have a real abundance this year, have had them about a month or more this year. I was out there for a while last evening, just sitting on the porch, watching.

    Peaceful.

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  16. this was wonderful! i, too, have caught sight of the tiny flashes of light outside the sliding glass doors and smiled. :)

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  17. I remember a visit to friends back east as a child, they would use canning jars and replace the metal disk with netting and then screw on the ring. We children would fall asleep on the sun porch with our jars of lightning bugs as night lights.

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  18. Our showed up almost three weeks ago, a little earlier than normal.
    Each evening, I sit in silence on the porch and watch their twinkling lights throughout the woods,it's magical.
    ~Jo

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  19. that is one bug I would LOVE to see here in Trelawnyd

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  20. Yes I can relate to the putting the lightning bugs in a jar. I used to do that as a kid too. Our lightning bugs have been here a few weeks already. I love to go stand outside on the porch in the dark and watch the field light up with them. Nothing better that the country life right?

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  21. I saw my first lightning bug last year in DC on the White House lawn - we don't have them here in AZ. I was so fascinated I almost got hit by a car, but it was so worth it!

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  22. Awesome post and LOVE that you captured that shot of the bug! Letting go was always the hard part of growing up!! If only they would have lasted forever in the jar!

    Lana

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  23. I remember them from when I lived in Princeton, NJ. We don't have them in Sweden and I remember being mesmerized by these bugs. We don't have them here either, but then we have those clouds.
    Isn't it nice what you can experience once you get off your butt and go outside?

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  24. Hi Kim, I loved this post; growing up in Calif. we didn't have them and the first I ever saw lightning bugs was in Tenn. My girls would chase them and catch them too. Oh the wonder of innocence and security of wide open plains. The remember those days fondly. Wish we had them here. Maybe someday I'll get to visit an area that has them. Blessings on your weekend my friend.
    Hugs, Noreen & Hunter

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  25. Oh, lucky you having fireflies on your property! We had them around the cedar hedge that surrounded the property of the house I grew up in, but the best show of them I ever saw was at a cottage that my grandparents rented on summer in the countryside south-east of Montreal. I haven't seen any in years and miss them!

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  26. I'm not sure when we'll see lightning bugs here! Are they early down there?...:)JP

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  27. We have similar ones and call them 'Fire-Flies'.
    I so agree Kim about the arrival of the seasons.....each is special and has it's 'signs'!

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  28. I adore lightening bugs! And no matter how old I get, they thrill me just as much as they did when I was a kid. Ours surprisingly came in very early this year, earlier than I have ever seen them. They have been here about a month now. That is a great pic. You really captured it well!
    I always hated it when the boys pulled their light off to see how long it would stay on. :(

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  29. The lightening bugs just started her too. Every 4th of July the grandkids catch the lightening bugs while we watch the fireworks. Good memories for me and them!

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  30. Oh, those are wonderful memories of those days. We did exactly the same thing as did my children. Some things just never change! Hope you have a great holiday weekend Kim. Enjoy!

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  31. So exciting! We did the same thing as kids as well as our kids doing the same thing. It was also very cool (and slightly annoying when they would be so thick they would get into the house)
    we moved to western NE and lived there for over 16 years and they don't have them out that way..last summer when we moved back to eastern NE, we found ourselves watching the fireflies on the 4th of July instead of the fireworks..they were amazing!'
    I SO look forward to their arrival this year! Thanks for the reminder..

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  32. Catching lightning bugs brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. Thankfully, my grandkids enjoy it, too, so I get to be a child again with them when lightning bug season begins.

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  33. I can SEE them in your picture!
    I do swear that you and I must have been twins in a past life...

    The other season announcement that I look forward is the return of the swallows! It seems that they all arrive at once in the spring and leave on the same day in the fall. I'm always so happy to see them arrive and so sad to see them depart...

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  34. www.jodistone.wordpress.comFri May 25, 12:31:00 PM

    We've been having some lovely weather here in the northeast, warm days and cool nights. It's what makes the snow and cold/heat and humidity worth while. :-)

    Enjoy!

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  35. I was commenting to Rob a couple nights ago that I hadn't seen any lightning bugs yet this year, then last night I saw one. They seem a little late this year, but I'm glad they're here.

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  36. We won't get lightening bugs here for a while. Of course everything is early this year, so it could be right around the corner.

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  37. This is funny...I sat and watched the lightening bugs on this nite too. I remember those days of stashing them in a mason jar as well. Wonder if kids enough know what a lightening bug is!?!?!
    thanks for the post and fond memories

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