Over the past week, I have seen a few rather out-of-the ordinary things for mid-April.
Some people might say they’re signs of the mild winter and early spring that we’ve experienced in the Ozarks. Some might say they’re signs of “climate change” or “global warming.”
You decide.
Last Friday evening, me, my wife, Wendy, and our oldest daughter, Roxanne, went to the Piney River Brewing Co. to hang out on the deck in some wonderfully warm conditions. There were only about 10 people there when we arrived, and it just so happened that four of them were a couple of couples who are our friends – Kurt and Stephanie and Hank and Jerri.
As we all jabbered about nothing and enjoyed listening to Kurt play his guitar and sing, we began to notice big bugs buzzing around. After a while, we were all like, “dang, those are June bugs!”
Once or twice, the big beetles flew into a woman’s hair and someone would assist in getting it airborne again.
I finally caught one that landed on a picnic table, and we were all amazed in confirming what it was.
“What the heck?” someone said.
“I can’t remember ever seeing one this early in the year before,” someone else said.
Then on Monday night, Wendy was enjoying another warm evening sitting at the table on the back porch at our house. She suddenly called out in surprise, “there are lightning bugs out here!”
Sure enough, me and Roxanne went for a look and there was a firefly flitting along in front of the wooden fence directly behind the house, lighting up and darkening as it went. Wendy said she had seen several more, but no matter, seeing one was proof enough of her claim.
“That’s just as amazing as the other night,” I said.
It’s interesting to ponder these abnormal insect sightings. June bugs and fireflies on April 15 and 18, respectively.
But I guess it’s also interesting to consider that fossil evidence clearly indicates giant ferns used to grow in Antarctica. And right here in Texas County, we can walk down a dry wash and almost every rock under foot is limestone (which is of course made of decomposed seashells and the like) simply because seawater used to cover the interior of North America.
I suppose it’s also worth noting that I haven’t seen an alligator in a farm pond or a chimpanzee swinging from a stock trailer. At least, not yet.
Conversely, I also haven’t laid eyes on any penguins or polar bears in Plato or a beluga in the Big Piney. And I don’t expect I will.
Anyway, it’s obvious the globe was warmer a long time ago, and the climate changed, cooling things down and lowering sea levels.
So then, does flying bugs that aren’t usually seen until early summer being in out and about in mid-April denote a planetary meteorological warming trend caused by man? Or is it a sign of the beginning of a period of warmer temperatures caused by a natural shift in ocean currents? Or is it perhaps simply a byproduct of a few warmer than usual winter months in a specific region of a continent?
Again, you decide.
Hey wait, is that a warthog? Nope, just a hog.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
