fireflies

[Childbride]

when i was a kid, [o, heck, as an adult] texas bugs have their seasons.

fireflies come in the summer. at gram's ranch, i used to catch them in jars, their magic light, and watch them light the jar at night when i was supposed to be sleeping.

then the Cosmic Impact hit me and i realized that this ended in their Passing, and i never did that again. because i believed in Magic in the World, and that it Should Be.

tonight, exhausted and hurting, [both of us, with our spinal issues] in the hottub, we watched a firework display from another Place.

the fireflies were early. and they were Beautiful.

hence, my question. what, in your part of the Galaxy, makes you happy with nature? what phenomenons are peculiar to your neck of the woods that just catch your breath and make you say 'Life is OK'?

 

[just strum]

When we moved to the house we are in now, I saw so many things I didn't see as a kid growing up in the city. I still can stop and watch deer come into the yard with their fawns and the fawns run and jump like playful puppies. Dragon flies dance around the pond and at a certain time of the year they swarm closer to the house and catch insects as the day is about to end. I go and walk around the one pond in the back and watch the amours, koi, and bass swim around in the pond. Souring above are hawks and the occasional eagle, then at dusk the bats begin their nightly feeding over the wetlands in the back.

In the part of town where I grew up the only wildlife I can remember were rats.

Oh, and in the winter you can stand out in the backyard and actually hear snow fall, one of the most peaceful sounds I've ever experienced.

 

[PAPPY]

WOW!!! I don't have the space or time here and you don't have the energy to read what all I would describe about Nature and the sights I've seen in my life that filled me with rapture and love of life. I think that is the one thing that kept me in the woods late at night with my hounds, there is simply no beauty as great or fullfilling as being out on a dark night with only the stars to light the way and watch the magnificent display of fireflies in the air.Then there are the little Jumping beatles on the ground that also have flashing lights on the top of their heads to shine down on the trail they are traveling. But most of all to me is how close the stars seem to be on those dark clear nights and feeling I could almost reach out and touch them and HIM. Beautiful memories that will last me the rest of my lifetime. Thanks for stirring them up a little.

 

[Spudman]

This is why I live where I do.

 

[just strum]

Wow CB, you may have fireflies, but Spud has goats in his area that have eyes that light up.

 

[Robert]

We've got the Northern Lights. And friggin cold winters. :whatever:

 

[Spudman]

Wow CB, you may have fireflies, but Spud has goats in his area that have eyes that light up.

I think they eat the funny things that grow around logs.











But they can't fly.

 

[markb]

Yeah but we have live dinosaurs. Meet the tuatara

 

[Kazz]

What is that?


Idaho is very beautiful....so are western Washington and Oregon....however you could not give me 100 acres on the eastern half of those states.....oh wait.....good Elk hunting....yes you could give me some acreage LOL.

This is why I live where I do.

 

[Kazz]

We live about 20 miles outside of the big city here.....out where we are...we are really in the middle of several farmers fields....a very little town population less than 1000 with homes spread out a bit more than they are in the big city.

There are only a few street lights so at night you can really get out and see the sky as it is meant to be seen....the constellations are amazing out here.....but the best things are the sunrises and sunsets far outside the city limits with only farm buildings to break up the scenery.

 

[SuperSwede]

I usually have these kind of buggers in the garden.

 

[Rabies]

What is that?


Idaho is very beautiful....so are western Washington and Oregon....however you could not give me 100 acres on the eastern half of those states.....oh wait.....good Elk hunting....yes you could give me some acreage LOL.

This is why I live where I do.

Yeah, Spud, what exactly is that mammoth beast? Looks huge!!

 

[tjcurtin1]

I think that it's Spud , in his night-walking mode.... something about the strange light in the eyes...

 

[Spudman]

Mountain goat. They are very friendly and completely wild where Mrs Spud and I go mountain climbing and back packing. Some times they bring the whole family by for visits.

 

[street music]

I live right next to the hillside and have made a watering pond for wildlife about 200 feet from the patio, we did feed the critters but that to costing too much so we just sit back and watch wild turkey, deer, bear, squirrel, bobcats, and I shot a coyote last night as it was trying to catch our cat. We like to listen to the whipporwill in the evenings or a hoot owl, opossum and coon are regular visitors too. We do keep the bird feeders full and have plenty of fun watching them try to run the squirrel away. I haven't had a elk in the yard as of yet but they are close.

 

[warren0728]

we have a red tail hawk in our neighborhood and sometimes while driving down the road to my place out of no where the hawk while come sailing across our car going in the same direction we are....then swoop down, grab a snake or lizard or something and then go almost vertical and land on a tree limb and eat.....the kids and i love it when he does that.

also for me....camping and sitting outside with a roaring fire is about as good as it gets, and then the fire dies down and it looks like you could reach and and grab the millions of starts out there....

ww

 

[Katastrophe]

when i was a kid, [o, heck, as an adult] texas bugs have their seasons.

fireflies come in the summer.

You mean "lightnin' bugs?" We used to chase and catch them all the time as kids. That brings back great memories of simpler times.

My favorite time of year is during deer season, when it's cold and clear outside (it's unfortunate that the "cold" part doesn't happen too much down here). I'll go out to the stand before sunup and just sit, listening to the world wake up. I'm at the age where it doesn't matter if I shoot anything, and it's cool just sitting and listening to nature.

 

[Childbride]

You mean "lightnin' bugs?" We used to chase and catch them all the time as kids. That brings back great memories of simpler times.

yeah, good ole lightnin bugs.

they remind me of a much simpler time also, my friend.

gonna go out and watch them again tonight, if they'll symphony for me.

 

[warren0728]

yep...we call them lightnin' bugs too! we see them usually when we are camping....i remember seeing lots of them when i used to visit my grandma in virginia....

ww

 

[Childbride]

double dumb ____ on me... [star trek reference... my husband is determined to make me a trekkie] practiced too much tonight. they only symphony at sundown... i missed them tonight. won't make that mistake tomorrow.

 

[just strum]

double dumb ____ on me... [star trek reference... my husband is determined to make me a trekkie] practiced too much tonight. they only symphony at sundown... i missed them tonight. won't make that mistake tomorrow.

You must have a different type down there. Up here in the heat of summer they tend to be around to at least 11:00PM. if I recall correctly.

 

[Childbride]

You must have a different type down there. Up here in the heat of summer they tend to be around to at least 11:00PM. if I recall correctly.

[snicker] you actually made me go check.

nope, we have a different type i guess, they need their seepies like me. already past my bedtime.

[giggle] shiner just came in here with his amph board and his checklist. he's gotten to the place on the list where it says 'if you got this far, take a break!'

 

[just strum]

[snicker] you actually made me go check.

nope, we have a different type i guess, they need their seepies like me. already past my bedtime.

[giggle] shiner just came in here with his amph board and his checklist. he's gotten to the place on the list where it says 'if you got this far, take a break!'

You forget, he's in training to be a rock god, it's at this point where he has some more beer and cheetos and stays up to 5 or 6 in the morning. Remind him that he has to get up early tomorrow - 2:00 PM (early for rock gods) because I have People Magazine coming down at 2:30 and Rolling Stone at 5:30 for interviews and photo shoot.

 

[luvmyshiner]

Remind him that he has to get up early tomorrow - 2:00 PM (early for rock gods) because I have People Magazine coming down at 2:30 and Rolling Stone at 5:30 for interviews and photo shoot.

Oh damn! I've only been a rock god in training for one day and already I feel stressed. :reallymad:

Guess I have to look for another career now, but I kinda like the whole cheetos and beer theme. Y'all got anything in mind?

 

[just strum]

Guess I have to look for another career now, but I kinda like the whole cheetos and beer theme. Y'all got anything in mind?

The next President from Texas?

 

[just strum]

Getting back to nature, I forgot about something that happened a few years after we moved in to our house.

I was out in the yard around 5:30 - 6:00 AM with the dog we use to have. He started getting excited about something and then broke into a steady stream of barking. Finally a doe comes out of the high grass that surrounds a little wooded section on our property.

Well this doe is pissed and she's snorting and stomping her front hoofs. I put the dog in the house and she is just staring at me and continues her snorting and stomping, but eventually wanders off. So I'm standing by the garage and I can see the grass moving around near where she had been standing. I walk over to a little foot bridge we have and cross over to investigate. Out comes this wobbling fawn, still wet from birth and cleaning, followed by a second. The doe had just given birth to twins.

About an hour later my wife and kids were up. My son tells me that the mother leaves the fawns for about 24 hours, but stays close enough to watch them. So I ask my daughter if she wants to see them at which she replies "no way, the mother will come back and I don't want to get bucked". It ends up that my wife and I go out by the fawns and they immediately get up and come to us. So we petted them and just marveled at them. As we walked away, we look back and they are right on our heels. They had every intention on coming with us. So we coaxed them back to the high grass and then we ran, so they couldn't follow us.

All that summer and fall they would come in the yard and play just around dusk. The mother and the twins would stay in the yard, eat grass and drink from the pond. It was neat watching them grow up as the months passed.

 

[Algonquin]

The call of a loon on a lake... that does it for me.

 

[Childbride]

algonquin, i've never heard a loon, and i've heard many birds. [edit: speaking of birds, i'm loaded with baby birds of all different varieties right now, and i'm tickled to death. they are so cute with their baby feathers moulting off and sticking out... i'm doing double time keeping the feeders full right now]

strummy, i love deer. they come up into the yard at gram's, sometimes. gram's house has huge 'picture windows' in gramspeak, all across the living room. you can see out past her yard onto the ranch.

we get turkeys, skunks, coyotes, wild boar, deer... you name it.

the other night i was talking to her and she'd befriended a cottontail with a nest of young'uns. she's been feeding her a carrot a night... it makes my heart happy.

i need to go back down there and see her soon.

no light pollution and you can see stars forever. [2d edit: saw haley's comet in her back yard]

 

[Katastrophe]

The lightnin' bugs were out last night. Mrs. Kat and I sat out on the front porch for a while and had a nice chat with a mutual friend we hadn't seen in about a year and a half.

It's good to reconnect with other people the way my parents, and their parents did.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

hence, my question. what, in your part of the Galaxy, makes you happy with nature? what phenomenons are peculiar to your neck of the woods that just catch your breath and make you say 'Life is OK'?

Here is a photo montage that shows a bunch of pics of why we live where we do. As for really special to me, falling snow, and individual snowflakes has to be high on the list. Kind of centers me immediately. Also calm water, especially the sound of it spraying off my ski, or sliding along a boat or canoe. Also the sunset, then twilight and gloaming toward the west, especially over mountains, water, or hopefully both.

Photo montage: http://gallery.mac.com/sunvalleylaw#100053 Click on the button on the bottom to make it play as a slideshow if you want.

P.S. that first guy is not really a nature shot, but it was a nice night, and we were outside at the base of the ski runs on Baldy under the sunset and twilight, then the stars came out. So the pic helps to paint the scene.