June bugs

Okay, I was talking to Sara this afternoon and I know she had no idea what I was talking about. Let's see who out there knows what I'm talking about. :wink:

I have Jasper (aka Jitterbug, my former rescue boy) staying with me for a couple of days while his mommy is out of town. We went for a walk this afternoon (walking 3 is definitely a challenge) and that boy is all over the place! Walking him just completely wore me out. He just weaves and bobs all over the place. I commented to Sara that walking him reminded me of when we used to fly june bugs on a string. You just kind of held on and let them go wherever they wanted to go.

Did anyone ever tie a string to a june bug and fly it? Am I completely nuts and the only who's ever done this? I know my brother and I did some pretty goofy things as kids...but I so remember this! Along with collecting fireflies in jar and pretending to be horses in grandpa's corral. Remember....this was pre video game days when you used to have to entertain yourselves.

Have to say I don't know what it is. Could you elaborate?

Born and raised city chick here, no flying june bugs in my neighborhood. What is a june bug? I do remember punching holes in the lid of a jar and catching grasshoppers to put inside.

We caught lightening bugs and put them in that jar!

O.K. Cath...I can help you out with the fireflies (we called them lightning bugs) in a jar, and also some kids made rings out of the lights, oh my, that sounds terrible now :yikes . I can also help you out with playing horses, we did that too, but you lost me with the June Bugs :lol:

We caught fireflies, and sometimes grasshoppers, but not Junebugs. I saw a huge bug flying crazily once, and someone told me it was a Junebug! :shock: No way would I try to catch something that size!

I use to catch fireflies but I have some good news for you my husband's mother use to cath those Junebugs and tie string to them I had never even seen a Junebug before until I met my husband and his mom told us stories about when she and her siblings were younger and they tied string to their legs and watched them go

Jasmine - tell you MIL thanks for saving me on this! I knew someone somewhere had to have experienced this. When my mom told us about it as kids we thought she was nuts. Until we did it. We'd fly them around on a string and dive bomb each other with them. What can I say...we were bored

Cathy - they are obnoxiously huge buzzing bugs...but at 8 years old they didn't phase me.

Shay - I know it sounds terrible now...but we did the same thing. Pinch off the lights and stick them all over our faces....gross now huh?! And Mary - who needed nightlights when you had a jar full of lightnin' bugs

I have never personally flown a Junebug, but Bubba has and my Dad has talked about doing it. (But then, Dad also says he saw it rain frogs one day - the sun had pulled up the water from a pond and took tadpoles with it and then it rained frogs. Okay, he also used to tell me stories about when "he was a little girl". My Dad is fun.)

Lightening bugs? Sure! Oh, and did they stink after you pulled out the lights and stuck them all over yourself. YUCK!!

Don't know about the horses, but my sister and I played Cowboys and Green Onions. This was before a lawn was such a thing of pride and we had our share of clovers to look through (and bees to avoid) and green onions. There is an embankment from Mom's house to the house next door and we would lay there and act like we were shooting the green onions.

These video games have nothing on us, do they?

It was so heart-warming for me to watch my children catch firefly's this last summer while we visited relatives back east.
They had never seen firefly's before and they were truly amazed at how cool they were and the way they lit up like that.
Boy I wish we had them here in San Diego

OK, I'll show my age, I was born in 1949 and grew up in the 50's. I remember doing that too!! You are right, there were no video games and besides, if it was a nice day, my mom threw us kids outside and told us not to come in til lunch or dinner. It's amazing (and a little frightening) what we could find to do to entertain ourselves. In fact, my parents would probably be charged with neglect today with the things they let us do when I was a kid. But then we didn't live in the city either.

thanks guys you have all just taken me back to growing up in georgia i grew up in the burbs but there weren't many houses around us at the time, then moved right smack in the middle of atlanta and now i've been in dublin for nearly 6 years so it was so nice to remember all the sights and sounds and smells of summer!!!!!!!!

we caught lightning bugs and kept them in jars (unfortunately they don't last long) and my cousin used to horrify me by making the rings.....yes, donna i can still remember that smell :yuk: and i used to pull up the green onions and 'cook' them when i played house outside. we also had big black beetles that were over an inch long that made a smell and a quiet buzzing sound (if you are an 8 year-old and get close enough to them to hear it hehe) if you poke them with sticks. did anyone else have these or do this??? they were very strong and could push against them.

LOL Cathy my mom and aunts and uncle also used to tie strings to june bugs and fly them. i never did it but i do know what they are goergia seems to have a lot of insects in comparison with other places....i swear my poor hubby thinks i grew up in the jungle compared to the benign selection of fauna here in ireland :lol:

k

I was really freaked out when I saw the fireflies in Texas for the first time ever.

My friends laughed at me !

Bruce - when they start an "Old-timers" section here you and I will be among the first occupants. We didn't live in the city, but there was a fairly major road (as major as two-lanes in GA get - not even big enough for a red light now) that was at the bottom of the hill where we lived. When Mom had had enough she has been known to tell me to go play in the traffic. I never did.

We walked to the little store just a few blocks from the house - which would be a daring feat today and I can't imagine letting Zoe do that for fear she'd be snatched off the street. There was (and still is) an old amusement park down the street which I would walk to when I was older but by then there was something (dare I say it? Boys!!) to walk there for.

And I would walk to school during the summer for band practice. I can't imagine letting a child do that today.

Yes, we were young and life was simpler!! (And Bruce, you are only 3 years older than I am. )

Kim and Critter.......You can tell those of us who grew up in the South, we all called them lightening bugs I remember as Bruce does being outside all day until we were called in to eat. Not only did our parent's want us to play outside, but we couldn't wait to get outside. We would woof down our meals so we could get back out there. It's a shame kids today will never know how much fun it was to make your own fun. We lived in a neighborhood with tons of kids and this is when Mom's didn't work outside of the home. All the Mom's looked out for all of us. It was an innocent time. Even if kids today wanted to play outside all day like we did, it just wouldn't be safe without an adult right there. Kinda sad

It is sad, Shay. When Erin was 10 we moved into a house on a cul-de-sac. All was fairly quiet until a family moved in across the street with 5 kids. They had a blast, always playing ball or something in the street. And every year we would go to TN to buy fireworks for Erin's b'day (7/4) and have a display in the middle of the court.

Now Zoe has to carefully ride her bicycle on the sidewalk watching out the whole time for cars.

Does this mean we really are getting old - talking about the "good old days?"

Yes, it is indeed sad.

Just remember: some day, today will be the "Good old days". Now THAT'S sad.