Beyond

I hope I never lose my sense of wonder. If that makes me naive, then so be it.

Saturday 9 June 2007

insects

I have posted on different occasions about the creatures that call our farm home. Some are cute (baby swallows), some are ugly (giant water bugs), some beautiful (deer), some funny (chipmunks).

But last night was the light show.

It happens for about a week and a half each June. There is a field across the laneway from the house, overlooked by our bedroom window. It's a good-sized paddock more than a crop field, and the grass stays long because part of it is the septic bed and so the cows don't graze there and we don't mow it all. There are no lights that way unless you look far into the distance on the horizon. And for a couple of hours each night for that week, the fireflies come out.

Now, fireflies are not new to me. I remember summers in PEI, going onto the golf course at night to catch them, when you would see little flashes in the dark to show where they were. But that is nothing to what we have here. The field is literally full of fireflies. There must be thousands out there, all flashing messages to each other that would probably be quite lewd, could one translate, given that it is their way of simply signalling their availability to potential mates.

But it's beautiful from my bedroom window. It looks like someone has turned on little twinkling Christmas lights in the dark field. It goes on and on, lights flashing all over the silence. I perch on my dresser, lean over the window sill with a glass of wine, and enjoy the show. The only sound is the distant rush of water on the creek, the calls of killdeers (little birds who are somehow up at night), and wind rustling the leaves. Then I look to the distance, across to the second field, and see flashes out there. And to think I am seeing a 1/2-inch insect that is several hundred yards away is pretty cool. It's mesmerizing, it's peaceful, and it's our own private show.

Unless you come and visit. We do share it.

2 comments:

sue said...

I bet it's one of those things to which words do an injustice. You can't adequately describe it... you have to see it. Wonder if I ever will....

Bee said...

I think you should charge admission