PSoTD

I saw a great show in Dillsburg last night. We were at the Haar's drive-in, it was 20 minutes or so before sunset, the skies were graying considerably to rain (which it did for most of Wall-E, then it stopped and we were able to comfortably sit in lawn chairs for Get Smart). Families and kids getting fully prepped for the movie that was about to begin... and next to us...

Was a field, and we've just entered prime firefly season here, and there were more lightning bugs flying in the field than I've seen in a long long time. And that's a lot, because our neighborhood is loaded with them, too. The entire field looked like it had been heavily laced with Christmas lights, and I realized that this scene, of nature and farm and drive-in theater, couldn't have been more dramatic if Steven Spielberg had set it up himself. I had to stand at the end of the drive-in and just watch the field.

I've had a different thought today. Business has started to realize that the beauty of insects, and our own lack of understanding of insects, can lend itself to opportunity. That's why butterfly gardens, and insect zoos, and vacation tours to watch insects, such as butterflies, exist. There's money in this niche.

It seems to me that somebody could put together a "Firefly Tour" as well, if the businessperson can string together places like Haar's Drive-In. It really was a spectacular show until it rained.

Why not firefly tourism in Pennsylvania? There are actually some activities like this already. Oh, and check this out:

Summer is around the corner but now is the time to begin looking for lightning bugs with at least one location in North Carolina already launching its annual firefly tours, officials in Ohio are still waiting because lightning bugs haven't been seen there yet.

Just outside Asheville, North Carolina there is a Firefly Twilight Tour on Saturday night offered by The Cradle of Forestry in America Historic Site in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest.

During this guided program people will learn more about the insects as they enjoy the evening woods, forest officials announced Friday.

It's a good place to see the flashing luminous insects because most adult fireflies are found near where larvae hatch and "most firefly larvae are found in rotting wood or other forest litter or on the edges of streams and ponds at night," according to the website of the Museum of Biological Diversity at Ohio State University.

Although fireflies are found in many areas of the United States, only fireflies east of Kansas glow, scientists say they don't know why.

Hey, you Westerners - come east and see the fireflies.