I hereby announce the first sighting this year of a firefly (or fireflies). Just now I walked out on our back deck. It’s nearly dark at 8:43 p.m., but not quite. I’ve been watching and waiting this past week for their arrival. Tonight I saw my first firefly of the season. It started in the darkness of our woods. Before long it was tracking across the yard towards Hailey who was chewing on her bone. It passed by her unnoticed.

Winking. Blinking. Tiny, but bright, flashlights in the night.

Welcome back. I’ve missed you.

On Saturday night we took a candle lantern tour at Long Pond Ironworks as part of their Living History weekend, which this time was an encampment of Civil War soldiers. Grab a lantern and join us. Pick one with a nice long candle.

It was an eerie kind of night. Early evening rain showers allowed for the misty steam rising up from the damp ground. Peepers and frogs added background music. It was overcast, so no moonlight. Once we got away from the roadside street light we only had the glow of our candles to guide us down the path.

Our guide pointed out to us what life would be like back during the Civil War, with no electricity to help people navigate the darkness. It certainly gives you pause for thought on all our modern conveniences we rely so heavily on today.

A few ladies with baskets of bandages for wounded soldiers accompanied us. We met up with two Yankee soldiers that agreed to take us to the enemy lines. Once there, we had to leave our escort behind and proceed on. Along the way we met a man with his head wrapped in bloody bandages walking with a stick for a crutch. He told us he had fallen off his wagon in the dark. A little further on we met a German immigrant on his way home from working a shift at the iron works.

Then it started to rain on us. Not a downpour, but enough to put up the hoods on our waterproof jackets (which we had this time been smart enough to wear). We reached a roaring campfire where the entertainment of the night awaited us.  We clapped and sang along to “Oh, Susannah,” “Dixie” and other Civil War era tunes. By this time the rain was heavy enough to warrant opening our umbrella, but the show went on.

The campfire snapped and popped; lightening flickered in the distance along the tops of the trees.

When the entertainment ended we once again picked up our candle lanterns and headed back into the darkness. On our way back we visited the Rebel camp where they started enlisting our group to join their side. Thank Goodness we were at the back of the line and recruitment ended before we got there. I’m a Yankee through and through; no changing sides for me!

Our rhododendrons are out-doing themselves this year. They are a riot of color; exploding with dense clusters of bell-shaped flowers.

I am not their only admirer. Here they are visited by pollen-laden bee.

This swallowtail butterfly likes them too.

Don’t you agree they are beautiful?

It’s a jungle out there! Parts of my back yard become a jungle at this time of year. It’s a bit boggy because we have a small trickle of a stream that bisects our four acres. Skunk cabbage grows green and lush until August.

Vines wander.

Ferns abound.

And little black monkeys climb in the trees.

Yes, it’s true. Myrtle and the Fantastic Five visited the back yard yesterday morning. They figured out how to come over the fence. BUT, not only did they use my yard as as a jungle gym, Myrtle and one of the cubs were up on my deck! Too close for comfort—especially since only a screen door was between them and the furiously barking Alex and Hailey. In her defense, I did have a bird feeder hanging from the railing of the deck, which she knocked off into the yard below. So, no more feeding the birds from the deck.

P.S. Myrtle is much bigger when you are right up next to her rather than just seeing her in the yard. yikes. 

Friday morning I awoke to Patches the Bear in the front yard. This is the result of having bears in your yard.

My brand-new bird bath got knocked over and broken. I guess I’m going to have to get an unbreakable one. This is the second bird bath that has met its fate in the same way (via big bear butt).

On Saturday, Myrtle brought her family to visit. They are still very small, but have grown since the last time I saw them. They played in the chaff leftover from feeding the birds and clothed themselves in spent sunflower seeds and the millet the birds didn’t want. They cavorted around the front yard like young puppies. They scrambled up and down trees like little black monkeys. They made themselves at home. Take a look for yourself. I think they are just about the cutest things I have ever seen (including puppies), and they were just what we needed to cheer us up.

Rick took this last video while standing in the back yard. You can see where a few seconds in she false charges him and lets out a warning huff. You can tell by the way Rick nearly drops the camera!

We hope Myrtle brings them back throughout the summer so we can watch them grow.