Lightning bugs

I just saw the first lightning bug of the season! It is quite a bit sooner than I remember seeing them, but it is so hot that the sleeping critters must have been awakened earlier than normal.

Lightning bugs always remind me of summer evenings when I was younger. I loved to catch them, put them in a glass mayonnaise jar, punch holes in the metal lid, put a bit of grass in the bottom, and keep them next to the bed while I slept. I don't remember them glowing much during the night, and they had a unique and somewhat disgusting smell in the morning. the magic was over once the sun rose.

So what my fellow lightning bug catchers do with them? My brother used to smear them just as they lit, creating a long glowing line on the driveway or sidewalk. While fascinating to see the line, it was a bit too cruel to me. Kristen had a series of bug houses, sometimes even several at one time, and would fill them with not only lightning bugs, but just about every kind of small critter that inhabited the yard. Her bugs survived, and were often let go the next morning to be caught again.

It wasn't until I read children's books with my own children that I realized that lightning bugs lived in the grass and that the males flew about to look for the females, who were often higher in the trees. I remember one story where the slow dance from the grass to the trees was described in reverential tones.

Lightning bugs are one of the very few bugs that do not scare or bother me (the other are the cicadas). They seems very peaceful hovering, lighting. They are easy to catch. They do not bite or sting. What's not to like?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sabbatical approved!

I was just catching on the blogs I follow, and noticed that Sue was reminiscing on what she was doing one year ago during her sabbatical.  That started connections to form to my life, since one year from now I will be on sabbatical.

I've laid out a fairly ambitious plan for the 4 month break (alas, no longer, since only one semester is allowed, and as chair I have to be back in May and will also be leading a study program abroad in May).  First, and most importantly, I need to finish the dissertation.  At a minimum, a full draft must be completed.  I look forward to the editing, but getting that draft out is troublesome, and common, as I have heard from just about everyone I know.

In March next year, I hope to report that my plan was successful.

Bis dann.