Tonight Kelly was sitting in the den in the dark looking out the window. It had been a very warm day, night had fallen. I was in the kitchen editing the new novel when she came into the room and said, "The fireflies are really bright! I thought they were airplanes!" (We live near a small airport so see plane lights in the sky all the time.)
We went out onto the back deck and stood there waiting. There was a bright flash in the arbor vitaes. Then a brighter flash amid the oak leaves of the big oak just off the deck. Then twinkling lights out along the woods followed by more very big bright flashes near the shed and hedges.
I love watching fireflies. It's like seeing fairy lights.
Sadly, this is the first year that we have not heard the whip-poor-will. He and his kin have been a part of our lives up here since we moved here in 1973. This is the first year he has not been out there in the back yard. Although his non-stop calling could become annoying at times, I used to take Kelly out on the deck when she was young with a Maglite because he would be sitting on the treehouse roof next door, or perched on the chain link fence between our yard and the neighbors.
The woods are eerily silent so far as summer quickly approaches.
But the fireflies are spectacular this year!
No comments:
Post a Comment