Fireflies

I stayed up a little later than I intended last night. I usually try to go to bed by 8:00 on work nights, because I get up at 4am. Last night, though, I didn’t get to bed until around 9:30. I let the dogs out at nine-ish for their last potty break. It wasn’t quite full dark yet, but the fireflies were unbelievable. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that their numbers have decreased. Last summer, it was rare to see more than a handful on any given night. Last night, though. Oh my. There were hundreds and hundreds of little twinkling faery lights. It was gorgeous. I sat on the deck, watching them and listening to the dogs wuffling around in the grass. After awhile, the twinkling became hypnotic. It was difficult to determine their relative distances, which made it seem as if space were collapsing. It was an odd, claustrophobic sort of feeling and I was reminded of one of my mom’s favorite poems, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Renascence.

And, speaking of happy bugs, I discovered a stand of milkweed growing in the scrubby area between my fence and my neighbor’s fence. Yesterday evening, big, fat, lazy bumblebees and some sort of swallowtail butterfly were feeding from its flowers. I didn’t get a picture of the swallowtail, but I think I got one of a bumblebee. If it turned out, I’ll post it. The spangled fritillaries are back, too! I’ll try to get photos of the whole gang.