June 15 2023 - Firefly Season

 

Bing's picture today is firefly motion blur in the smoky mountains.  It is beautiful.  That would mean that we are coming to firefly season.  Fireflies have four distinct stages - egg, larva, pupa and adult.  The life cycle typically takes two or three years.  They lay eggs in the autumn that grow into larva which remain underground for the winter (or under tree bark). The adults typically emerge in late spring or early summer. Typically we start to see fireflies when the weather is warm, so can expect them in July. To encourage fireflies here are the suggestions of the Canadian Wildlife Federation: Consider adding a water feature without fish. Include plenty of aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation to offer fireflies places to live and grow. Where possible, avoid cutting down trees on your property and include areas of tall grass and other vegetation, perhaps in the corner of your garden. Turning off as many lights as possible is thought to help fireflies communicate with one another. It also helps migrating birds who often collide with buildings, although typically high rises in cities are the bigger culprits. Many buildings, communities and homeowners are being more conscious about saving on their electricity bill as well as the impacts of light pollution. World Firefly Day is July 2nd.  I don't seem to have any photos of fireflies though I do remember trying.  It isn't surprising - they are fast.  Here are the lanterns in the garden from a few years ago.

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Aug 29 2022 - Mooncake and Lantern Festivals

 

I am wondering why we don't have a lantern festival in August.  This is one of the great Chinese and Asian harvest festivals.   We did?  Right nearby? How was it? "Just last week, on August 20th, a U.S.-based event company had a lantern festival outside Toronto.  The Lights Festival was held on a farm in Six Nations on Aug. 20, despite community concerns around permissions and safety. Many ticket holders, some who came from more than 100 kilometres away, were turned back by Six Nations police, while others were able to reach the property and release lanterns.  Viive Events is the Utah-based company behind the The Lights Festival, where people light a lantern and let it fly through the sky.  Festivals take place across the U.S. and Canada, and have triggered concerns before. The company held the event on private property, the Johnson Farm which was on the Six Nations Reserve.   Having it on the Reserve meant that safety laws were different and with this "loophole" 5,000 ticket holders would be able to fly their lanterns.  Into the largest Carolinian forest in southern Ontario.  It was mayhem when the police evicted people.  Refunds were demanded.  No wonder, one person said she paid $122 for two tickets.  Out of the supposed 5,000 tickets, it turns out that 300 lanterns did get into the air. "We did everything that the venue had told us to do," said Drew Dunn, a manager with U.S.-based Viive Events. There are more light festivals coming up by the same US company - Atlanta, Washington D.C., Utah, New York/New Jersey, Chicago and Denver.  The one in New York/New Jersey is actually in Coatsville, Pennsylvania and very close to Kennett Square/Longwood gardens.   The Washington DC area festival is in York Haven, PA.   That's south of Harrisburg.  It seems a safer is a water lantern festival - and one was held recently in Welland, nearby.  All went well there.

We have two versions today - quite a wonderful display at the Performing Arts Centre, and in the garden a few summers ago. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feb 26 2021 - Let's Lantern Tonight!

 

I think we set in our "Western Ways." We mostly ignore an opportunity for a Lantern Festival.  This is the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year.  It is marked with massive displays of lanterns.  Wikipedia tells me that festivals are held in some western cities - in London and various U.S. cities.  New York's is the largest.  But these seem more like a commercial version of the traditional Chinese festival.  At the same time, I realize it is hard to just 'adopt' them.  These sorts of traditions have ancient roots in religious celebrations.  That's what makes our holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and so on so special for us.     On the other hand, it is never too late to adapt.  So let's check nearby.  Niagara Falls is an international attraction so should have something for tourists who celebrate the lunar new year.  Of course it does! And here it is:   "Buy your ticket now! Seasky International Light Show is coming to Niagara. This visually spectacular lantern and light festival will allow you to explore over 30 magical light displays on the illuminated trail that you can walk at your leisure. Light up the darkness and bring a smile to your face!"  The pictures are amazing - great big displays  Here's the website HERE.  However, we're in the COVID gray zone so we're in lockdown, and tickets are on hold right now.  With only two days left, it seems a shame to have only found out about it now - early December was the opening.  However, the opening was postponed, so let's hope for next year to celebrate this event.  What else made me think of lanterns today?  The Snow Moon 2021 is out.  What a huge moon it was - both last night in the east and this morning in the west.   Today, February 27 is the 'big day' so take a look out and enjoy the lantern festival we have. Doesn't this pretty entrance gate look perfect for such an event as the Snow Moon?  This is the Moon Gate entrance to the gardens at Lost Horizons nursery.  The white sign says "Display Gardens". And here's what we would experience at the entrance to the Seasky Lantern Festival 2021. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 25 20-19 - In Cahoots

It wasn't even noon yesterday and the 13th Street Winery's bakery was out of cherry tarts.  They had various flavours of butter tarts - one said its ingredients were everything a nanimo bar had in it AND it was a butter tart.  Now that sounds tasty. The expression in cahoots has its entry in Wiktionary: This word was used in popular English literature in the early nineteenth century. It comes perhaps from French cahute (“cabin”), from Old French [Term?], possibly blend of cabane (“cabin”), and hutte (“hut”). Also thought to be from French cohorte, or a slang form of English cohort in the meaning "accomplice."   The meaning of the expression -  "Cahoot" is used almost exclusively in the phrase "in cahoots," which means "in an alliance or partnership." In most contexts, it describes the conspiring activity of people up to no good.  I must have seen something with this expression.  I could have seen it in many contexts.  It's a bar, a publisher, an album, a theatre company, a survey conducted by the Manitoba government. Carl Sandburg has a poem titled Cahoots: PLAY it across the table. What if we steal this city blind? If they want any thing let 'em nail it down. Harness bulls, dicks, front office men, And the high goats up on the bench, Ain't they all in cahoots? Ain't it fifty-fifty all down the line, Petemen, dips, boosters, stick-ups and guns-what's to hinder? Go fifty-fifty. If they nail you call in a mouthpiece. Fix it, you gazump, you slant-head, fix it. Feed 'em ... Nothin' ever sticks to my fingers, nah, nah, nothin' like that, But there ain't no law we got to wear mittens-huh-is there? Mittens, that's a good one-mittens! There oughta be a law everybody wear mittens. ~Carl Sandburg We were in St. Catharines at the theatre yesterday for a Norm Foster play.  Gerry won the fifty/fifty draw and I got these pictures of the lanterns in the ceiling of the lounge.

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