lightbugs
fireflies in the night, exchanging flashes,
fireflies in the night, what were the chances they’d be sharing love before the night was through?
The fireflies are back! About two weeks ago the outdoor floodlight burned out, leaving the yard in nearly pitch darkness. The light is really high on the house and difficult to change, so it’s still dark out there. Last week I saw the bright yellow flashes of fireflies or “lightbugs”, as I heard them called in my childhood in the 1960s. Coincidentally the light burned out last year about this time and the fireflies visited for awhile then, too.
They used to be so plentiful half a dozen of us kids could fill glass jars with enough of them to make a lantern of sorts. Of course the bugs would largely cease their flashing once captured this way so we would let them go. Now they’re pretty scarce in the big city. I’ve read that one reason for their diminished numbers is they need darkness so they can locate one another’s flashes. City lights shine bright for humans, but dim the lightning bugs’ chances for reproduction.
Don’t worry, l’il litebugs…
We’ll Leave the Lights Out for Ya!
goon’s tune impugned by buffoons »
