The Firefly Party

Firefly Party

"Fireflies" by Owl City*

You would not believe your eyes

If ten million fireflies

Lit up the world as I fell asleep...

I confess - I love Fireflies. I love their almost magical blinking,  like fairies flickering in the night.

Growing up we had several acres of meadow behind our house. Fireflies winked in and out of the long grasses all summer long. I remember laying on the lawn with my brother trying to count them. Now fireflies are endangered due to diminishing habitats. Increased use of pesticides and well-manicured lawns give fireflies nowhere to hide during the day (an excuse to stop mowing the lawn in late June!)

In a tribute to the long summer nights of my childhood we've invited some friends over for an informal Firefly Party. We've invited everyone for dusk - about 8:00 PM. We're close to the Central Time Zone and approaching the longest day of the year so true dark isn't until almost 9:00 PM. Pretty late for five year olds! I've suggested that the kids all wear PJs and bug spray.

The party is all about light, but we don't want to flood the yard with artificial light because that will make it hard for the fireflies to signal each other. And they need to signal each other to find a mate.

Decorating will be simple. We'll set up tiki torches and string white lights. Light up balloons and Sky Lanterns from WalMart complete the decorations.We'll pitch a tent on the lawn and light our fire pit.

Since it is an impromptu party we'll keep the food simple: s'mores and bug juice for the kids. We'll have chips, veggies and dip for adults who don't want s'mores. I was happy to discover a true Southern specialty, Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka for the adult drinks! Inspired by a drink I ordered at Disney World, blinking "ice" cubes in every one's drink will add the finishing touch.

We'll give the kids glow sticks and bug jars from Dollar Tree. I even discovered some glow in the dark bubbles! At the end of the party we'll light the Sky lanterns and each family will send one into the night sky with their wish.
 

Kid's Bug Juice Recipe

• 2 10-oz. packages frozen strawberries, defrosted and pureed in a blender
• 1 6-oz. can lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1 qt. ginger ale or Sprite

Firefly Half and Half
(This is basically an alcoholic Arnold Palmer.)

• 3 oz. Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka
• 3 oz. Lemonade
• One Lemon Twist

*this song is my ringtone when my husband calls

  

This was our wish lantern lighting from New Year's Eve 2011.

Take it SLOW

Today I turned the car around to help a turtle cross the street. I picked her up and moved her to the side of the road where she was headed. I wondered how many other people had driven past, around or even over her. 

It was an Eastern box turtle with a beautiful shell. Box turtles look for nesting sites in June and July, so I assume it was a female. What an amazing mother to risk so much to find the ideal nesting spot for her clutch of eggs.

I wondered if the other drivers realized what her mission was and if they would have cared. It was such a little thing to stop and move her safely across the road. It took less than 3 minutes.

When I was a kid we rescued a box turtle that had been hit by a car. We fed it berries, watermelon and raw hamburger. It grew very tame - taking bits of fruit and lettuce from our fingers. We released it in the woods at the end of our street.

Box turtles are a now protected species in most states and can't be kept as pets. They have a very long life span (50-100 years) and don't breed until they are about 10 years old. They only lay 3-6 eggs and leave the nest unguarded. Skunks, foxes and coyotes all happily eat turtle eggs if they uncover a nest. Combine this with shrinking habitats and box turtles rarer than they were when I was growing up.

We have a box turtle that lives has lived in our yard in Georgia since we moved in. I know its the same turtle because she has a scar on her shell. Eastern box turtles have a very small territory - typically less than 2 acres. It probably hibernates somewhere in the little patch of woods behind our house.  I see it every few months. Once it wandered into the garage, terrifying Danielle and cracking me up.

We're a family of turtle rescuers. Last summer Kevin helped a snapping turtle cross the road. If you've never seen a snapping turtle they have flat shells and long pointed tails. They also have long necks, quick reflexes and vice like beaks.   They're called snappers for a reason. There is no safe way to handle a snapping turtle. Kevin used a stick to scoop if up and flip it across the road. I'm not sure that I would have tried to move it if I'd been in his shoes.

A few years ago we visited Tybee Island. One of my favorite random sights was the "Turtle Crossing" sign we spied on I-80. Unlike deer crossing signs, it wasn't there to protect motorists from getting hit by turtles, but to protect the turtles from being hit by cars. Tybee's sandy beaches are a favorite nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles. We were there at the wrong season to see any turtles - we just saw the sign.

Sadly, the signs have been stolen from I-80 and turtle fatalities are up this year. I'm sure that some one decided to take the signs as a souvenir instead of just taking a photo. It's a shame because similar signs are readily available through Amazon Turtle Crossing Sign for under $10.00.

Perhaps some industrious Tybee Island merchant can stock Turtle Crossing signs and sell them to the tourists. Until then we wait for the Georgia Department of Transportation to replace the signs - and hope that people will either try stop if they can safely and help a turtle over the highway when they see one trying to cross or at least avoid hitting it.

And if you see a lump that looks like a rock in the middle of the road, slow down a little. If its a turtle, take a minute to pull over and help it across the street.

For information on Tybee Island Turtles go to http://savannahnow.com/news/2011-07-16/tybee-islands-pregnant-turtles-no-match-motorists  To help get the Turtle Crossing signs returned to Tybee Island, please contact the Georgia Department of Transportantion (GDOT) for Chatham County in District Five: District Engineer (Acting) Karon Ivery 204 North Highway 301 Jesup GA 31546.