Last evening....

I saw the first real signs of summer, well the first signs that I consider to be summer. FIREFLIES in the ditch. As I was driving along I enjoyed their little twinkling light show. A little flash here and little flash there. Ever since I was a little girl I liked watching fireflies. They amaze me! They are like christmas lights in June!! Fireflies were always a true sign that the Fourth of July wasn't far away, which happens to be my favorite holiday.

Here is an interesting little factoid I found about my favorite little friends:
Fireflies talk to each other with light.
Fireflies emit light mostly to attract mates, although they also communicate for other reasons as well, such as to defend territory and warn predators away. In some firefly species, only one sex lights up. In most, however, both sexes glow; often the male will fly, while females will wait in trees, shrubs and grasses to spot an attractive male. If she finds one, she’ll signal it with a flash of her own.

But I don't live in an area where there are Fireflies. Some people also call them Lightning Bugs. Again, some interesting information about my friends:
Fireflies are found on almost every continent.
Fireflies love warm, humid areas. Because of this, they thrive in tropical regions as well as temperate zones—they come out in the summertime in these environments—on all continents except Antarctica. Fireflies thrive in forests, fields and marshes near lakes, rivers, ponds, streams and vernal pools. They need a moist environment to survive.

Some species of firefly larvae are generally aquatic—they even have gills—while others live almost entirely in trees.

So this summer as you are driving along take note of my little friends, twinkling and glowing and giving us their own summer light show.