Rain, Thunder, Tree Frog, Bird

We've had serious drought conditions here for some time now so evening thunderstorms, for the most part, are a welcome thing.

This particular one was, as the family gardeners would say, "a nice little shower," and it reminded me of my grandmother's house, of rainy summer evenings spent on her big Mayberry-esque front porch. The rain always seemed to diminish the mosquito activity but rev up the "lightning bug" courtships under the maple trees. (That would be "fireflies" for those of you not born and raised in the South.)

I have maple trees where I live now, but I'm sorry to say I don't have the big front porch with a swing and a glider like she did or the scent of mimosa and honeysuckle filling the night air. There are only a few "lightning bugs" under the trees most evenings -- one or two were actually caught on this snippet of a video, but I don't think you'll be able to see them. I can't remember the last time I actually sat on a front porch on a summer evening, or heard a whippoorwill sing or neighbors laughing and talking on other porches up and down the street. I didn't know then how much I would miss it.

The video is very short -- there's more to hear than to see -- but maybe it will spark your own memories.