Stranger in a Strange Land

[mizkit]

We’re on holiday in America. Flew to Michigan, then drove to North Carolina. The first night in the RV, we stayed at one of those RV campground type places that feature heavily in horror movies. Obviously we survived, but Ted and I kind of went O.O at each other. Also I flooded the back of the RV by over-flushing the toilet! Go me!

But fireflies! I

Comments

[deborahblakehps]

Welcome back :-)

Now you just have to swing by upstate NY...

Fireflies are amazing. (You should check out my friend Alex Bledsoe's Firefly Witch short stories, now that you've seen them.) I get them in my yard some nights. My yard is filled with cardinals and blue jays all winter, and red-winged black birds are my harbinger of spring. (On the other hand, I don't live in a mansion in Ireland, so there's that.)

I hope the rest of your trip is filled with even more wonder. And fewer toilet accidents....

[martianmooncrab]

little red-winged blackbirds

they are the prettiest things... all basic black until they open up their wings

[sophielandon]

And the prettiest (and very precise) calls: "Baa-Wheee!"

[dacuteturtle]

Growing up, we called them lightning bugs. Staying out late on a summer night when you should be was bed is part and parcel of the experience. I get a kick out of telling my daughter, "go catch fireflies!" knowing that its well past her bedtime and she'll have a blast catching them. I made sure that my niece and nephew from Singapore got to catch them, too.

I recall reading a snippet about how The Bangles (the rock band) were gobsmacked when they hit the east coast and the evenings were lighting up. They didn't know that fireflies were FOR REAL.

As for summer thunderstorms, yeah, summer thunderstorms. Sometimes terrifying and sometimes it's a first row seat to the best light show you'll ever see. Often both.

Now you got me thinking of Dixie Storms. I'm going to listen to a little Maria McKee.

[childlight]

OMG you are so close to me here in South Carolina LOL. As a kid my cousin and I would peel the glowing butts off the lightening bugs aka fireflies and stick them to our shirts so we could run around the yard glowing. I cringe to think about it now.

[pameladean]

I'm so glad you got to see fireflies and cardinals. And red-winged blackbirds are so very fancy. So are blue jays. I haven't spent much time in the part of the country you're in, though my brother and sister-in-law live in Raleigh. They really love many aspects of it.

Have a great time.

P.