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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Word!
Twain said that the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. Anyone who's ever strung together words with serious intent knows the truth of that maxim.
So here I am, living about 20 miles from Mr. Twain's most famous residence... and the maxim came to life for me last night. We were warned about a string of very powerful thunderstorms wandering by, so when I started seeing flashes off in the trees alien invasion or a Michael Bay film set didn't occur to me. I stood there watching these incredibly bright flashes, just over the horizon (=trees and more trees) and multicolored depending on level and distance. No sound, no clouds overhead, no rain - just giant fireworks down below the treetop level and off thataway.
Then I realized I was seeing something else - sparkles all around that I'd assumed were lightning. They weren't. It's firefly season here again. Since our first month here last year was in the tail end of that time (yes, that's a joke) and it was my first time seeing fireflies in quantity and in their natural element, I still think they're pretty cool. But watching the lightning show battle with the lightning bugs was exceptional and I have no trouble understanding why Twain liked the phrase so much. (He claimed he got it from Josh Billings, but he used it a number of times in different contexts over the years.)
_________________ "Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders." - Luther In the end, I found Heinlein is finite. Thus, finite analysis is needed.
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Thu May 17, 2012 4:17 am |
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JohnBlack
NitroForum Oldster
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:40 am Posts: 75
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Re: Word!
You are fortunate to get to see a firefly show. There were a lot more of them when I was a child. So much so that it was an assumption that you would start seeing them about an hour after dark and there would be hundreds if you lived in a rural area.
I live not so far away from you...in NY on the border with CT and now some years I go the entire season seeing none at all - and other years seeing only a handful.
Are they still common by you? Or was this a one-off?
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Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:35 am |
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sakeneko
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:22 am Posts: 603 Location: Reno, NV
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Re: Word!
I didn't live or camp in areas where fireflys were common when I was a kid, but I still remember the night I camped rough outside of Salzburg, Austria and watched for a couple of hours as hundreds of little points of light danced around the camp. It's quite a sight, and a WHOLE lot safer than watching lightning striking nearby every few minutes and your tent lit up with static electricity. (Which I've seen rather more often than fireflys.)
_________________ Catherine Jefferson <ctiydspmrz@ergosphere.net> Home Page: http://www.ergosphere.net
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Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:40 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Word!
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Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:48 am |
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JohnBlack
NitroForum Oldster
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:40 am Posts: 75
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Re: Word!
The ticks of the region are particularly nefarious. With more than half of all ticks infected with something - not necessarily Lyme disease. Anaplasmosis, babeioisis, erhlichiosis and other diseases are available to us via the tick vector. I contracted erhlichiosis at one point and developed a headache that was painful enough that I cried. The associated pain went from head to tailbone along the spine. I was dizzy, experienced temporary loss of vision - a few seconds at a time, and other symptoms.
This has had a serious impact on my enjoyment of the woods and fields. I still go but nowhere near as often, I over-spray myself in DEET, and am less likely to go off trail. E was a terrible experience for me that I never want to repeat. At that time it had apprx a 6% fatality rate. I dealt with a doctor that was resistant to the idea that I had contracted a tick-borne disease so late in the season (it was Autumn) and so I was diagnosed late.
Risk Map Connecticut
Risk Map USA
NY Times article - April 4, 2012 / Why this year will be an abundant tick season.
MSNBC - Spread of tick-borne diseases other than Lyme under the radar.
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Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:37 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Word!
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Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:51 am |
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ChuckA
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2010 8:10 pm Posts: 43
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Re: Word!
And deer have more rights than people.
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Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:06 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Word!
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Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:46 am |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Word!
Deer density and regulations are roughly identical here (Vancouver Island). Lyme disease extremely rare though (maybe a couple of cases a year). The fawns were late this year, it seems.
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Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:00 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Word!
Lyme disease is named after the collection of towns named Lyme in CT, of course. It's a fairly serious worry here, especially for dogs.
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Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:22 am |
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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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Re: Word!
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:23 pm |
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sakeneko
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:22 am Posts: 603 Location: Reno, NV
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Re: Word!
_________________ Catherine Jefferson <ctiydspmrz@ergosphere.net> Home Page: http://www.ergosphere.net
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Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:33 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Word!
Ay-yuh. And you should see what Butchart does for Christmas. Wonderful lighting displays with a Twelve Days theme all around.
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Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:08 pm |
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