Monday, August 24, 2009

the un-summer


Do you know the writer Alice Hoffman?  She writes in a very lyrical, poetic way and her books usually employ magical realism.  Flowers grow or shrivel at alarming rates, turn colours, etc..., people speak like birds,  sometimes pebbles or fish appear in their pockets-well, you get the idea.  It's quite entrancing.

The summer that wasn't (i.e. THIS summer), has made me feel a little bit like I'm living in an Alice Hoffman novel (or maybe a gentle version of one).  Endless rain and thunderous, dramatic clouds.  Wind storms tearing the roofs off houses in certain parts of the province.  Puny vegetables.  The grass growing so quickly we can almost hear it.  Swarms of insects.  Bats.

And other things too.




My husband was coming home late one evening and saw this unusual phenomenon over the bridge in the neighbouring town.  



There were clouds of insects around the streetlights, and the bridge was covered with piles of bug carcasses, enough to make the bridge slick and slippery, and looking for all the world like snow.  Creepy mysterious summer snow.


Closeup of bug carcasses.  Maybe someone knows what kind these are.



A shadow shot of my intrepid reporters (see how white the pavement appears?). 

Because sometimes we all need a break from flowers, cats and horses.

And now, back to regular programming.

P.S.  If you haven't read Alice Hoffman, give her a try.  You won't regret it.  Her books are not without humour-of the black variety, of course!

6 comments:

LadyFi said...

Oh, I love magic realism!

As for those bugs, goodness me! They certainly look as if they come out of a book - a horror one, perhaps?

Unknown said...

We called those bugs fish flies! They came every summer and would crowd under the street lamps just like you are showing. They used to pop under our bike tires! I have to say they were pretty gross and I dont miss them one bit! I grew up in Michigan so I guess these are the same creatures...

Bekah said...

wow how WEIRD. I have never seen bugs do anything like that!

Unknown said...

Wow that is amazing! I have never seem such a thing.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Great take on snow! very interesting! I know the un summer feeling..we have been cold and dry, the tomatoes will never ripen:(

C-ingspots said...

Totally creepy!! I've never seen that many bugs in one place before. But...those look like May flies. They are an aquatic insect and are the number one carrier and cause of Potomac Horse Fever in horses. Nasty little buggars!! Fishermen around here use them as bait on their fish hooks. Might want to vaccinate your horses just in case...