Grooooonk. Dog got me up at 3 am for a, um, gastric emergency. Hell, at least she got me up. Far, far better than the alternative.

Can I go back to bed now?

I didn't see/haven't seen any fireflies this year, I guess that's because I'm seldom out at night. I think we usually get them around June, but can't remember.

I'm inexplicably sad to think I might have missed them.

I've seen one or two at my dad's house. (Which seems to be becoming it's own little wild animal park. Sightings in the yard include muskrats, beavers, some creature that everyone who saw it swears was a squirbit - half rabbit/half squirrel - and of course, the ninja squirrels.)

A squirbit sounds like something that should be in a Dilbert cartoon, brenda. Glad the pup woke you up! Coulda been nasty.

I love fireflies! The park we went to for fireworks this year was rife with them. I felt like they were determined to rival the show by putting on their own pre-fireworks display. It made it much easier to wait.

ION, I own all the gronk in the world. It has devoured my bottom and already reached my brain. I locked myself out of my condo this morning while doing laundry and had to pester a neighbor to borrow a key to get back in. (Locked security door to the laundry room, everyone's key works on it.) If anyone wants gronk, I got it in spades and will be glad to pawn it off on donate as much as may be needed. Please, tell me you want some?

Is the Cape hunting dog the one that brings food back for mouth-to-mouth transfer to the puppies? Their hunts have like an 80% success rate?

That's the one. Remarkable animals.

Congratulations flea, and family of flea!

how far is Thousand Oaks from LA,

Close. I used to commute from Echo Park (LA) to Agoura Hills (further than Thousand Oaks). Thousand Oaks is the Valley.

Um, no.

I used to live in Agoura Hills. Toaks is on the other side of it from L.A.

The distance of Thousand Oaks from LA depends on the time of day. Time is space, right?

ita's got it down.

I did notice when living in California that distance is quite often expressed in time. It amused the science geek in me.

I didn't see/haven't seen any fireflies this year, I guess that's because I'm seldom out at night. I think we usually get them around June, but can't remember.

I'm inexplicably sad to think I might have missed them.

I was inexplicably giddy when I realized this weekend that we had them here on the Eastern Shore. In my brain, they're a New England thing.

I always seem to see fireflies (or lightning bugs as we called them when I was a kid) around midsummer.

And meara, be careful about using the words "Marion Barry" and "smack" in the same sentence.

I don't remember ever noticing them in DC.

There are fireflies all around the mid-atlantic but not nearly as many as there used to be.