At the end of a very strange work afternoon that capped a very strange work week, it was a relief to go home yesterday. We made a trip to Hollywood Vine, our local wine store that carries an amazing variety of wine. We got our provisions and came home to grill our Friday night burgers.
One of the things I love about our new house is the quiet neighborhood. We can sit in our backyard without hearing traffic noise and stereos and neighbors yelling at their families. The new backyard has all sorts of ambience, and of course, a swimming pool.
It occurs to me that soon I will have to stop calling it our new house. We're approaching the one year anniversary of when we made the offer and started on this journey.
Anyway, we had burgers and sipped wine and talked. We slathered bug spray on ourselves, since the mosquitoes are fierce at sunset. I did leisurely laps for a half hour (my summer goal, to do half an hour of laps every day). Wrapped in a towel, I sat for a bit longer, waiting to dry off.
And then we saw it: a firefly!
Those of you further north are probably shrugging and saying "What's the big deal? I have a gazillion in my yard every night."
But before this month, I'd never seen a firefly in South Florida. The other night, earlier this week, my spouse called, "Come here quick!" I wasn't sure what he saw in the yard, but it was a firefly. And then, last night, there were others.
I saw about 4--hardly the firefly show of my youth. And the light is green, not yellow, and bigger than the firefly lights of my childhood. They stay lit longer, instead of flashing. Very intriguing.
I loved seeing them blinking in the lights of the palm trees.
This morning, I could still smell the mosquito repellent on my face, so I took a sunrise swim--no fireflies this morning, and the mosquitoes stayed away. It was a beautiful way to start the day: a different kind of sun salutation.
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5 comments:
Two nights ago, Elijah frantically called from his room, "MOMMMMMM"...I was worried what was happening. He was so excited he could see fireflies out of his window! He said he saw 3 and the lights flashed 6 times! I am happy this joyous occasion was not lost on him!
Fireflies and sun salutations -- glorious!
I live in Central Florida, and I haven't seen any fireflies here. When I was a kid, we called them lightning bugs. We'd catch them in a jar, watch them for awhile, and then set them free. Watching them in the night sky was magical, a simple pleasure.
Thanks, everyone, for reading and commenting. I'm hoping we all see more fireflies and lightning bugs in Florida--and hoping it doesn't mean the climate is going wonky even faster than we thought!
Hi, for the first time in years we too are now seeing green fireflies; many of them up here and to me I pray that is a good sign. Elemental spirits at play on the night air, that slowly vanish in the morning dewy fog as a majestic horse prances about.
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