We got a chance to go see some fireflies this weekend. We had heard about it last year, but only after the firefly season was finished. So we were very excited to go see them this year. Neither of us have ever had the chance to see fireflies before so it was a surreal experience. We were both shocked to see that light-emitting insects really do exist. And not just a little light either, but bright light, like twinkling strung Christmas lights. We had to drive a ways into the mountains to get to the stream they hang around. When we got out of the car, and discovered all of these flickering, lime-green insects swirling around the trees, we felt like we stepped into some kind of fairy land. They don’t really buzz around in a hurry like their more unpleasant fly cousins. Instead they just listlessly bob from tree to tree, circling around each other for fun. (An image of the fairies from Fantasia is an appropriate one, sans the Tchaikovsky.) They floated around so calmly that we were able to catch several and they just kind of sat in a hands for a few moments before lackadaisically resuming their dreamy flight patterns. As if they really knew we met them no harm but were merely enjoying the light show. They were definitely the most relaxed bugs I’ve ever met.

These pictures don’t really do them any justice, but hopefully they paint enough of a picture to see a bit of what our little buddies look like.