Seven Island State Birding Park is a wonderful location close to the cottage. They offer a variety of programs to educate and engage and entertain people. This June they are offering several nights of either ‘watch parties for fireflies’ or ‘fireflies and spider eyes’ hikes. There will also be a Dark Sky Hike on the night of the new moon. There will be a hike on the night of the full moon as well. Lots of chances to get outside in an area that is darker than most here in east Tennessee. [tnstateparks.com/parks/seven-islands] All of those are attractive to me. I’ve signed up to volunteer for at least three firefly nights. I’ll probably get to some of the others as well.
The first of these events was last night. I didn’t remember exactly what I had signed up for because I’ll be rotating to different elements over the course of the month. Last night I had the good pleasure of working with Ranger Destinee in the classroom where we had a video that Ranger Clare had produced that offered lots of intriguing information on the fireflies.
Fireflies basically take a couple of years before they arrive at the stage of life when they will be lighting up the night. Those that are producing the light show will only live a few weeks—their soul objective by this point is to reproduce. The lights are part of the mating rituals that continue the species. There are several thousand species of fireflies worldwide with myraid patterns and peculiarities.
After most folks had stopped in on the video, they all headed down the Bobwhite ADA trail to find spots to watch the show. Many brought chairs or blankets or something to make the evening more comfortable. I, unfortunately, had not checked my gear in the car, so my ‘shirt’ was in a pack at the house. I was a little bit chilly, but nothing to warrant any whining!
There were several species of fireflies down close to the bridge. Some were short and bright; others had their lights-on longer; some even had a reddish tint. It was fun to watch all the bugs putting on their show.
But for me the real show was the night sky. Venus and Jupiter were shining early and bright in Gemini. Even Mercury could be seen above the western horizon. I pointed some of this out to Ranger Destinee before we left the Bluebird Barn to take in the show.
Once I was down the path I was pointing out stars and planets to others. A family near to me was talking with their children about the stars. The son said he thought one of them was Venus, so I took the time to point out which were the planets; I also pointed out Castor and Pollux in the constellation.
I explained to the group I was with the difference between an asterism [a recognized pattern of prominent stars] and a constellation [a region of the sky with defined borders] using the Big Dipper, which is perhaps the most commonly known asterism, as a great example. Scorpio was above the horizon in the south but the view was diminished by the lights of Hwy 66 heading into Sevierville. I was trying to pick out Sagittarius as well.
As the family started to pack up to leave, the mom thanked me for offering up lessons on stars and such. I was glad to do so.
At one point SIR Casey came up to me and asked me what stars we were looking at. He had told some close to him that he thought it was Scorpio he was seeing, and I confirmed his guess. He was excited that he had recognized it. I told him that I would likely be back for more of the night events.
So I was affirmed that I knew some astronomy. Others were able to know a little bit more about what they were looking at. Casey was able to be excited for knowing more than he used to. It was a glorious evening of watching stars.
I was thinking about the contrast. Fireflies give brief flashes of light that will only last seconds; their lifespans at this point will only last weeks; these nights are special and precious.
Stars have been shining for millions of years and their light reaches us across the ages—literally! What we are seeing is history written on a dark expanse of space. But they reveal patterns and tell stories that help us understand how we’re connected across all that space and time.
There are some incredible evenings when we get both the instanteous and intimate lights of life seeking love and life here on earth, as well as the distant historical beams that travel billions of miles to be seen on a cool, clear night in Tennessee. What a delight to take in the night lights!
[these are not my pics and no credit is claimed for them]
Character in the Making 