Oooh, another bonus. No-one told me we'd have fireflies in the back yard.
So far, I've found the wildlife rather hostile. There are spiders with bites that can turn nasty (and even fatal, but don't tell my mother that bit). These are called fiddlebacks after the outline of a violin that you can see on them, or brown recluse. The one we saw marching across our basement floor wasn't very reclusive, though. Probably ailing or dying, according to the pest control man who came round to spray the house (oh so tempting to say "Hello Spiderman" when I opened the door to him).
Then there are fluttery moths, large numbers of woodlice (I've never seen so many, but at least they have the decency to stay hidden under stones and bricks and any toy left outside overnight), mosquitoes (lots, apparently, as the summer wears on), ants (many, many), chiggers (which bite your ankles, mine more than most, but you can effectively stop the bites itching with clear nail polish, I'm told), and termites (we know we don't have those, at the moment, as you have your house inspected for them when you buy it).
So it was with great joy that I witnessed the fireflies. I have never seen a firefly before, but have always imagined they would be charming and curious. And indeed they are. They are truly lovely. They are little blobs of yellowy-green light that switch on, float around, and switch off. It is like having magic in your back yard.
Husaband and I agreed that all we needed was a couple of garden chairs and a bottle of wine, and we could have spent some happy time sitting in the warm evening breeze watching the fireflies. Sadly, Husband is off wine as on antibiotics, and we have no garden furniture, although it has been on our agenda (I'm talking two attempted and aborted shopping trips with bored children). But it's very good to know that the fireflies are there. I'm so pleased to have met them, and I'm going to enjoy getting to know them better.
I find myself wondering where you are. We don't think of ourselves here in Oklahoma as the midwest, we're more southwest, or even south depending on who you ask. But so many of the things you describe sound like home.
ReplyDeleteI love the fireflies. I remember chasing and catching them when I was a child. Mama would pop holes in the top of mason jars and we'd take them to bed with us. It's a nice way to fall asleep.
Welcome to the States.
Hi there....now you have just hit on the reason why I couldn't live where you do - or, in fact, anywhere remotely exotic....wildlife....insects...
ReplyDeleteSPIDERS!!! No no no. Wrong.
Love the swimming pool though.....
Hi Kaycie
ReplyDeleteI'm in the State directly north of yours - there, that should keep most of my British readers in the dark. I say "my British readers"; that should probably read "my British reader" since I may well only have one.
I'm don't know what a mason jar is, but when I've found out, I'm going to get the kids to try catching fireflies.
No you have 2 British readers and I hate the spiders, love the swimming pooland the fireflies and am on a mision to work out where you live.
ReplyDeleteBest of British wishes
Blossom
I have lived in that state! My daughter was born in the state capital there. My grandparents live in Montgomery County. I grew up about 20 miles due south of there in a tiny county called Nowata. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteA mason jar is just a canning jar, the kind you use to put away tomatoes or squash or pickles when your garden is overflowing. Daddy always used to drink his iced tea out of them in summertime and Mama canned, so we had an abundance of them.
Your mother's found out about the man-eating spiders! (That's the problem with the Internet...)
ReplyDeleteGloria and Barley would like the fireflies!