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Quote of the Day: Mark Twain

June 26th, 2011

The difference between the almost right word
and the right word is really a large matter.
It’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.

Mark Twain in a letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888



Kind of like snapping a photo at just the right time! I love it when the lightning bugs are out and about. Earlier this week I started to see them in the front yard, too bad they’re spraying for mosquitos in our development next week so that will kill a good number of them.

Do you have lightning bugs in your area?

25 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Mark Twain”
  1. Sheryl at Providence Acres Farm on June 26, 2011 at 6:22 am

    No, but I grew up with them in the south. It’s a little disappointing that I don’t see them here.

    Reply to Sheryl at Providence Acres Farm's comment

  2. Eliza J on June 26, 2011 at 7:12 am

    What an awesome photo! We do have them in in Western, MA but certainly not as many as we used to. It’s very special to us when we do see them. I’ll share this with my husband….GREAT JOB!!!

    Reply to Eliza J's comment

  3. Jaye Whitney on June 26, 2011 at 7:53 am

    Yes! (Texas) I love them too and this is a great photo. I always feel that when I begin to hear the Cicadas and see the Lightening Bugs, that summer is officially here.

    Reply to Jaye Whitney's comment

  4. KimH on June 26, 2011 at 8:10 am

    I havent seen any yet this year.. but we do see them around here mid summer.. Seems like its been too chilly for the most part, at least in my mind. ;)

    Reply to KimH's comment

  5. Songbirdtiff on June 26, 2011 at 8:12 am

    I live lightening bugs and we get them in masses here in Arkansas. When I see them, that’s when I know summer is really here.

    Reply to Songbirdtiff's comment

  6. Mary W on June 26, 2011 at 8:28 am

    They were keeping me company as I was working last night. Very nice and peaceful.

    Reply to Mary W's comment

  7. Diane on June 26, 2011 at 8:33 am

    Oh, yes, we have lightning bugs! I sit on the front porch at night and watch their blinking all over the front yard. But, I’ve never seen a picture that caught that blink as well as yours does.

    Reply to Diane's comment

  8. Cherise on June 26, 2011 at 9:03 am

    Yes! We have lots of them here in southeastern PA! I’ve noticed many more this year than previous years. We’ve had some in our house already. I’m very excited about them this year because 28 years ago we hosted a French student who had never seen a firefly. She was amazed by them! This summer we will be hosting her 19 year old daughter. It will be so cool to show her the same things we showed her mother here in the states.

    Great photo!

    Reply to Cherise's comment

  9. Kathryn on June 26, 2011 at 9:28 am

    That is an awesome pic.

    I grew up with them as a child, and later visiting my grandparents in TN & KY. But from age 8 on we lived in Montana, and they don’t have them there, nor here where i live in California now. I do miss them.

    Sad they will be spraying and killing them.

    Reply to Kathryn's comment

  10. igardendaily on June 26, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Such a beautiful photo, I love the quote you used with it too. We don’t have any fireflies here in the west…not sure that is the appropriate name but that is what we call them. However, I lived in southern PA for three years and we had lots of them. They were a thrill for us and especially for my young children. Your photo brings back fun memories of the time I spent living in PA.

    Reply to igardendaily's comment

  11. SixBalloons on June 26, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Wow! I have never seen one in real life but imagined how amazing they would be when I was a kid… it provided endless material for daydreaming.

    Too bad about the spraying. =(

    Reply to SixBalloons's comment

  12. nic@nipitinthebud on June 26, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    I’ve never heard of Lightening Bugs but they look like what we’d called Glow Worms. I’ve never had the delight of seeing a real one.

    Reply to nic@nipitinthebud's comment

  13. Daedre Craig on June 26, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    We never had lightning bugs at my parents house, but I have them at my own house. Every night when I head out to the chicken coop to shut the chickens in, I get really excited about the lightning bugs.

    Reply to Daedre Craig's comment

  14. itchbay on June 26, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    No, sadly. One of the very few things I don’t like about living in Sonoma County, California. That, and the fact that we don’t get Cardinals here either.

    Reply to itchbay's comment

  15. Mistresseve on June 26, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Yes, we have them here, but there seems to be quite a few less than usual. Very sad, really, as there is no better way to spend a warm summer’s eve than a lightening bug catching contest with the kids (we let them go, of course!) By the way, here we have always pronounced peony as “pee-a-nee”.

    Reply to Mistresseve's comment

  16. tj on June 26, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    …Yes, I love them! Just last week early one morning I saw one in the bathroom, kinda funny to be sitting on the toilet in the dark and see one flashing its light…lol Anyway, I scooped him up and took him outside and my husband met me at the back door wonderin’ what I was doing outside and I had to tell him that I was saving a lightning bug…which was followed by an eye roll from him…*giggle* :o)

    …Love the photos – perfect!

    …Enjoy your Sunday & blessings too… :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  17. MAYBELLINE on June 26, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    No lightning bugs here. I’ve never seen one.
    Thanks for the excellent photos. My react was:
    “Way cool!”

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  18. trashmaster46 on June 26, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    No lightning bugs west of the Rockies. My one and only time seeing lightning bugs was about 5 years ago in Tulsa, at a backyard barbeque. I thought it was kids a couple yards over playing with flashlights or glow in the dark stuff. I finally asked some other guests if the flashes were the bugs. They were quite stunned to hear we don’t have lightning bugs out there.

    Reply to trashmaster46's comment

  19. Jennifer Fisk on June 26, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    I am in shock that they allow spraying for mosquitoes in your development. Do the residents want this to happen? With the state regulations and the pesticide awareness of the population, I don’t think a spray program could ever get approved in Maine.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

    • Susy on June 26, 2011 at 7:52 pm

      I am too – it’s quite annoying – especially since we live in a lake community. They haven’t sprayed for the past couple years because of lack of funds. It’s interesting because they spray for mosquitos and then they wonder why we have fish kills in the lake where all the fish show up dead – HMMMM. For the most part, people here in rural Ohio still believe that chemicals/pesticides are good. This is one reason we’re saving to buy some acreage out in the country so we can shield ourselves and our gardens from the spraying of chemicals by others in our close proximity. Or perhaps we can just move to Maine someday.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • lawrence kolada on June 27, 2011 at 4:25 am

        It sounds very unfortunate, I live in Connecticut near long island sound. Maybe 5 years ago, New york decided to do mosquito spraying, soon thereafter, long island sound was no longer a prime lobster fishing ground. There was a die off of the population, the closer to new york, the lower the populations. When will the government wake up and stop trying to force things they think are appropriate to use on the poplulation and the enviroment?

        to lawrence kolada's comment

  20. Michele on June 26, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    I saw the first one about a week or so ago. Living in an urban area that has no funding for anything can sometimes be a good deal – this would be one of those very rare moments.

    Reply to Michele's comment

  21. Lindsey@NW Backyard Veggies on June 26, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    I have never seen a lightening bug in person. I have always wanted to! There is something mysterious about them and how they light up. The best we get up here is … wait a minute. We’ve got nothing comparable in Washington!

    Reply to Lindsey@NW Backyard Veggies's comment

  22. bonnie on June 26, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    Yes! We have them here in NC. Once my son and I saw a whole tree full of lightning bugs blinking at various times. It gave the effect of a huge Christmas tree.
    Google videos of Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies. Now that is a sight I would love to see!

    Reply to bonnie's comment

  23. Yan on June 28, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Nice photo of the firefly! …love it!

    Reply to Yan's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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