Moth-adjacent

I think Lee said something about lights and moths and asked if I wanted to go. He’s pretty good at finding interesting things to do so I added it to my calendar and didn’t really think about it again until the date approached.

Then the details emerged

bring a flashlight

wear closed-toed shoes, long pants, snug-fitting shirt (avoid loose sleeves when possible)

minimize exposed skin, as insects may land on you or crawl along clothing

insect repellent recommended, as is sunscreen due to the use of UV lights

and I began to question just what I’d agreed to.

 Oh, and this:

And yes, we also love a little transformation and dressing up for the MOTHS! If you have moth, insect, moth-adjacent, or cryptid costumes, we absolutely encourage them. Practical and playful can coexist here

We arrived at the Hillsborough Moth Crawl around 8pm on a hot Saturday in June. Although there were three locations and we could have attended all three, we chose to stay at Brumley Forest Nature Preserve, where Lee had ridden the trails before. The sun wasn’t scheduled to set for another 30 minutes or so, and we took our time applying bug spray to the few areas of visible skin we had remaining. Nighttime activities that require darkness don’t mesh well with our bedtime, so we tend to arrive too early and then are required to enact superior time-killing skills. After checking in at the registration station, we walked the trails, chatted about the scenery, people watched, and tried to ignore the heat and humidity. People, some dressed like they were ready to trek the jungle, others with recklessly bare skin, slowly milled around the few stations set up in the middle of the main trail. Each of the three stations had some variation of sheet/screen and light source, and although the area was lush with trees and filled with birdsong, the constant hum of a generator ran in the background, electrical cords crisscrossing sections of the path.

One end of the trail opened into a firebreak before continuing on into the woods again. As we stood in the clearing admiring the change of scenery and enjoying the break from the generators, we saw the fireflies. Maybe you call them lightning bugs, but whatever you call them, they were captivating. Flickering in an almost coordinated pattern. It really wasn’t dark, in fact when we walked back to this particular area when it was dark, we could no longer see them. We tried to take some pictures, but you could only see them with the naked eye.

We’ve reached the point where I should say the challenge for this post is to CATCH LIGHTNING BUGS (using a jar with holes poked in the top as a homemade lantern and releasing them at the end of the night). I would never try to do this; no way am I trapping bugs in a jar, but it doesn’t really matter because there is absolutely no way I could do that if I wanted. Perhaps this is one of those things we encourage kids to do because it is impossible and it takes a lot of time. A good way to get them outside and make them good and tired.I’m sure it’s been done, but for this exercise that’s not even the point. I’m giving myself credit for doing this and moving on.

We didn’t spend long with the fireflies; we weren’t actually there for them, but I have to admit I liked them more than the moths. When it was finally dark enough for the lights to draw the bugs, we moved along the trail, standing behind the gathering of true moth enthusiasts at each station, those willing to really get in there with the swirl of insects, people who would be able to know this type of moth from that one, folks who might actually be wearing moth antennae. We enjoyed the people watching more than the moth watching.

A couple of weeks later, I was letting our dog Scout out to go to the bathroom and I saw fireflies again. This time it was darker but still more dusk than dark. There weren’t as many, but they were there, blinking against the backdrop of the woods. I thought about running in to get my phone but then realized that would be missing the point. The beauty of fireflies is that you have to be present to enjoy them. This might be where we could learn a thing or two from kids. I think we miss a lot in life by trying to capture a memory before it’s a memory.

Lee and I went once to a Marine Corps Birthday Ball where we didn’t really know anyone. Lee was doing a fellowship at USAID, and he was not a part of that particular unit. As the ceremony unfolded, the person seated in front of us held up their phone and recorded the entire thing. It didn’t bother us, but it was kind of sad. Maybe they did watch that video later, or maybe it was for someone else who didn’t get to attend, all of that is fine but I hope they didn’t lose the magic of the moment viewing life through a lens.

Thanks for reading, may you only encounter bugs that bring you wonder and awe!

Before you go…I did learn that fireflies are actually beetles. According to the book, they take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin to produce light with almost no heat. That’s pretty cool. If you have ever successfully captured fireflies, please do tell!

Also, I feel the need to say that we did not see the moth in the cover photo at the Moth Crawl. I took that photo in the stairwell of my therapist’s building.