Summer Night Hunting

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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for fireflies that is. Fireflies, lightning bugs, or perhaps you call them glow worms. At the back door I hear Caroline, 4, squeal with excitement. She takes off running for her bedroom and comes back with a bug house in her hands. One of those little mailbox shaped plastic wire mesh covered cages that little hands can operate to open a flap and put bugs in. "Daddy, you want to catch lightning bugs with me?" Sure. As we went into the dimly lit backyard there was an occasional green-yellow flash of a lightning bug in the distance. "I'll get him daddy!", Caroline says with great excitement as she takes off for the other end of the yard. We gather up a few bugs taking note of their size and brightness. "Oooh, daddy, he's a BRIGHT one. Look how big he is."

Growing up in the South catching lightning bugs is something it seems all kids love. A sign Summer is in full swing. Hot days punctuated with warm nights. Kids in the neighborhood playing hide-n-seek or capture the flag. Wholesome fun we parents delight in watching our kids partake in.

As Caroline catches the fireflies I can't help but think how few there really are. She has no knowledge as kids we used to fill up jars so full they put off a glow so bright that looked as if it had batteries. Lightning bugs were so thick you needed to only walk a step to catch another. Japanese beetles are dense, far more then I ever recall, colliding and tangling in her hair. She continues on, "Ooooh, there's another lightning bug! I got him I got him. Let's go show mommy. Thanks daddy."

When I stepped out the door to catch fireflies with Caroline I had no idea there'd be a lesson in waterfowling.
 
Just last night my 4 year old Luke saw them for the first time this summer. I'm sure we will be out tonight chasing them.


Have fun!
Gene
 
Eric,
enjoy those moments

I got in a little trouble one time when I came back inside with a jar jammed packed with them and opened it in Mom and Dads bedroom . I was just gonna get ONE out......


I found out many years later my Dad woke my mom up and said" look honey the big dipper " ( joking bout the fireflies on the ceiling ) her response was " no , go back to sleep " ( thought he was talking about something else ).

At least I get my sense of humor honestly....
 
As a kid I remember those warm summer nights in Kansas and those millions of fire fly's glowing on and off. Laying in bed falling asleep with a Mason jar full of them next to me. It helped get you through thos ehot humid nights when even a sheet over you was too much......in that humidity.

Continue having fun with your kids Eric........they grow up so fast.

Dave
 
Dave

I can relate to the sheet comment. When we were kids the only air conditioning we had a lot of the times was the cool side of the pillow. My folks, being from Missouri which I'll argue should change the state motto from "The Show Me State" to "We're Tight", wouldn't run the AC until around the 4th of July to save money. I kid you not butter in the cabinets was usually melted. I don't miss those days. Of course my mom benefitted by not having all the neighborhood kids over to clean up after. None of my friends wanted to come in opting for other places to hang out.
 
Reading this brings back good childhood thoughts. Like most I'd have a jar full of fireflies sitting on the dresser that I'd watch until I finally fell asleep.

Here's one I'll bet you hadn't heard of. One vaction when I around 10 years old we went to the north woods to go fishing. We stayed in a little cabin on a lake. The kind with the typical knotty pine walls and screened in porch where the 3 of us kids had to sleep. One night after smores at the campfire we were all hunkerd down to sleep when I heard my mom and dad laughing like crazy in their bedroom. Of course at 10 years that means bust in on the parents to see what's going on. Anyway there was mom and dad sitting at the foot of the bed and mom had her finalnet hairspray out and she was spraying it at the wall. You see the place was full of wood roaches and mom was sprying them as they run up the wall. It was funny as hell. The roaches would take off fast as they could and us kids and mom and dad would start counting to see how long it took for the hairspray to harden and the bugs would fall of the wall! After aboout a half hour we decided it was grose so we all went to bed......ah good times!

Ed L.
 
I'm not sure if I'm going to tell my kids about this, but we used to catch a jar full of fireflys and take them to the movies, then roll the open jar under the seats! Another one was forcing the fireflys down a toad and seeing it glow like a lantern. I was a bad kid.....

Brian
 
This was before air conditioners and the grown-ups got the fans in their bedrooms. I remember waking up in the morning sleeping on a sweat soaked pillow and sheets. I could not live that way again.

That is another reason I like these northern latitudes, it alwaus cools off here at night. The last few days have been in teh mid 80's, but at sunrise it's been below 40 degrees.

Judy and I sleep year round with the bedroom window open about 7 inches with a small fan below on the floor that puts the cool air up toward the ceiling. Now we did close the window for a few nights last winter when it dropped to 10 above zero. Thos ewere the few nights that we pulled up the Hudson Bay blanket. From June through September we have the floor fan and the ceiling fan going all night. and if it gets above 75 degrees at anytime inside the house the air conditioner comes on.

Even in Montana last Octorber we had to turn on teh air conditioning to cool the room down so we could go to sleep. The Motel people kept asking us if we were from Alaska?

Dave
 
Yep, my brother and I were blessed with a vast area behind the house that amounted to about 20 backyards wrapped into one giant one. We'd fill jars with them and of course write our names on the side of the house or each other face etc. I recall when Cyalume sticks were being marketed originally that my dad told us that they'd extract the key ingredient from lightening bug guts and "kids are getting paid for it". I was always bummed that I didn't live in a place where the lightening bug man came by and paid for a jarload....regardless if it was true or not. We still have tons of lightening bugs. They seem to be much more prevalent around the lakes in the area. I did see some last week but they really get thick around the 4th on those hot humid nights.

The neighbor kid hits them with baseball bats when the little kids are catching them so I outlawed hitting go bugs in my yard for "safety reasons". In reality, I feel kinda bad for the little critters getting smeared and bludgeoned all the time.
 
Eric ,

Great way to spend time with the kids , we visited Burlington Vermont one year and the kids spent all night catching fire flys with the campground owners wife and us what a great time they had,they still talk about it 10 years later.



Dave M
 
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