I mentioned to Lin that I must have seen a hundred fireflies in the back yard this morning. I love fireflies. Many, many hours of my youth were misspent running around in the dark back yard of my childhood home catching them in jars and then releasing them again.

I think all children need fireflies and dark back yards. I’m certain many of my parents’ peers would have thought my parents insane to allow a young child … and I do mean young … run around late into the night … and I do mean late … in a totally dark rural back yard. Sometimes, I even fell asleep on the lounge chair or hammock, and nobody carried me into the house. Occasionally, I’d get carried in and put into my bed, but just as often, I would wake to find myself covered with a blanket and waking to the morning sun on my face, my hair and face lightly covered with a fine veil of dew. I learned so much being out in the world in the dark of night.

I learned not to be afraid of the dark. I learned to navigate in the dark. I learned to hear subtle sounds and interpret their meaning. I learned about wildlife. I learned to see in the dark, drawing meaning from the barest of shapes. I learned to hear and appreciate the quiet and gentle sounds of the nighttime world. I learned to be independent. I learned to read the skies. I learned to sit quietly listening and looking. I learned how to think deep thoughts, something which, for me, seems to happen at or near 3 am. I learned how to play actively but quietly. I learned how to tell myself stories … and act them out in the pitch black of a moonless night. I learned how to dream. I learned to be free. I learned all manner of things I didn’t even realize I was learning, skills which I believe have served me well in life.

Yes, children need fireflies and dark back yards and the freedom to learn from them.

Which is, of course, not at all the reason I sat down to make a post. I just thought I would get the tangent out of the way first. :blush:

So, I mentioned to Lin that I must have seen a hundred fireflies in the back yard this morning. I love fireflies. We have been planning to treat our yard with beneficial nematodes, and I had a moment of worry that doing so would diminish the firefly population, because fireflies spend part of their life-cycle living in the ground as larvae. Beneficial nematodes eat larvae. After looking it up, as it turns out, fireflies are more than just nighttime jewels. While in their larval state, they eat snails and slugs … and earthworms, which isn’t so beneficial. But, people who have used beneficial nematodes in their yards tend to see an increase in both earthworms and fireflies. We can now treat our yard with beneficial nematodes to our hearts’ content. :)