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threadbear
Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817
Indy

0 posted 2008-07-10 07:59 PM



Hidden Within the Folds

  The lightning called to me, or rather I should say, the thunder compelled me out of the house and onto the back porch that faced the sunset.  It was just 30 minutes till sunrest, but the sky was already darkened in advance.   My companion pet begged to be let out, and he studied the sky as I did, wondering if this melee’ would also set a roof on fire, as the last one did.  Over a month ago, lightning hit the corner tab of the building across our lake, one that housed eight people.  I had rushed out, urged them out, and watched in horrific fascination as the rain alternately put out the roof fire and then let it reignite in the lulls.  It spread, invisibly, thru the attic spreading its noxious smoke downwards into the dweller’s thresholds.  Eventually the fire was contained and the work on the building is still underway.

   So tonight, my fuzzed friend and I marveled at the pyrotechnics displayed in a godlike enormity.   A heavy-weighted candle rocked a bit at each salvo on the outdoor table.  The lake water moved in every direction at once, like several submerged sea creatures were deliberately stirring the tide.  With all this going on, we had scarcely noticed the deafly quiet wings of hundreds of moths that silently raged on above our heads.  When we finally were both aware of our interlopers, it created a sense of deja vu from seeing the scene in the movie The Birds when the birds deliberately accumulated on every surface, watching and waiting.

   It dawned on me that moths must be extremely vulnerable to rain, and they were desperate.  Next to me was a thick pine tree – so thick that none of the branches were visible.  Somewhere within the folds of this sanctuary, were all the cousins of all the moths that now encircled my porch and popped and bopped into shoulders and head.  They flew deliberately within the awning which only accentuated the closeness and annoyance to my solitude.   But i guess one is never alone when there are 100 bugs to every human.  The moths darted within the receiving arms of the pine, and it gave an illusion that the tree was shimmering.  My companion stood on his hind legs and batted at the ones closest to the ground and hit the occasional home run with them.  

     It answered a question that I’ve long had:  where do all the flying insects go when a storm flares up?  Somehow, perhaps thru Moth-Dance, they all found their way to my porch, my tree, and my world.  Within minutes they were all gone: gobbled up and hidden within the folds.


© Copyright 2008 Jeff Feezle - All Rights Reserved
amusemi
Senior Member
since 2001-12-08
Posts 1262
A State of Disarray
1 posted 2008-07-12 06:11 AM


Ya know I've wondered the same thing!  My ex-step-dad was an entomologist and ever since he told me there were so many bugs in a square mile I have periodically looked for them, only to see the bare absence of them.  Bugs are a curious thing.

BTW...Hitchcock's 'The Birds' gave me nightmare's for years...

Cool write!

threadbear
Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817
Indy
2 posted 2008-07-14 11:43 PM


I hear ya!  I think there is a whole undiscovered societal world that we are unaware of in the insect pop.  There's a method to that madness!
Thanks amusemi, for your kind replies.
tb

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
3 posted 2010-03-12 02:02 PM


Jeff...I've not had that exact experience with moths and storms, but in the days when I had a swimming pool, worms, during a heavy rain would end up at the bottom of the pool.  I thought a few times about going out during the storm to watch their slither to the long drop down into water, which I have a feeling is what they were trying to avoid in the first place.  Strange....Thanks for the look from your back porch.
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