Since we have no mains electricity as part of the No Impact experiment, we also have no TV. Last week, someone asked me how we entertain Isabella without one. In the comments to that post, someone said that they like to take their kids hunting for fireflies.
Coincidentally, that day, my friend Mayer, whose community garden plot I help with, called to say that fireflies were in season at the garden and that I should take Isabella there at dusk. So we went.
At first there was a lot sitting around and waiting. Then, the two-year-old Isabella shouted, “I see one!” Sure enough, she did. Before long, there were four or five fireflies blinking their lights at any one moment. One crawled on Isabella’s hands and Isabella said, excitedly, “I want to eat it!” I gave her a few springs of the purslane that grows in the garden instead.
We sat around a while longer, and when about six fireflies circled around us, Isabella suddenly looked at me and said, “I’m so happy, Daddy.”
She never said that while we were watching television.
This was a joy we found because having no electricity (and therefore no TV) forces us to actively do things instead of just passively watching things.
Image courtesy of Ebertfest.com.