Summer Memory

 

Before spraying for mosquito larvae was a practice in my neck of the woods, there were butterflies, fireflies, worms, bats, bunnies and cicadas.

On sultry August evenings that felt like a sauna the local wooded area was lit up by fireflies. Hundreds of them. Folks would gather and watch the fireflies dance and twirl and dive and flicker in blankets of movement. This went on for many days until their life cycle was over.

During the oven hot days butterflies sat on flowers, worms crawled onto the cement after sun showers, cicadas howled, bunnies dug dens and bats could be seen sleeping in certain trees.

This was before the spraying for mosquito larvae. Under the cover of darkness for quite a few years now the mosquito larva authorities spray open fields of woods, cemeteries, junk yards, abandoned property and any area prone to standing water.

Gone are the summer nights with fireflies and cicadas. Gone are the burrowing bunnies, round shaped crawling worms and butterflies. Even the bats have vanished. The ground is toxic.

What remains are Canadian Geese flying in formation, the sparrows and pigeons and sea gulls. These creatures are accustomed to toxic ground. They are city creatures. These creatures have immune systems and stomach acid that melts medal. They can survive a toxic bomb.

Every summer, I watch for the fireflies hoping the ground has recovered and the mosquitos are gone. I think the mosquito authorities should have let the bats take care of the mosquitos.

Occasionally there is a burst of fireflies on steamy August night and folks gather to remember when we had butterflies, fireflies, worms, bats bunnies and cicadas.

Georgia