Lightning Bugs.... (Fire Flies, if you prefer).

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10. They're making a comeback!

Twenty years ago, even thirty years ago, it was rare here to see more than a few a night in this part of the country. Now there are tens of thousands of them all night long!

Thirty years ago, in early May, a local FM radio station (104.1) ran a contest, with the goal to bring in 104 fireflies. But fireflies weren't really out yet here, so they were slow geting a winner. But they were out in force, in the south part of the state; and a friend and I were taking a trip down there. In a campground the night we were there, we caught 120 fireflies in a jar. We drove back home with them the next day, and the day after, we went to the radio station and cashed them in. We won the prize, $104.10! The DJ's were flabbergasted that we could find that many, until we told them we traveled to get them. Since it was his idea, I let him have most of the money, but I got $20 to buy a couple of albums (Asia and Styx Cornerstone), and he got stereo speaker system for his car. A nice memory!