Every Day is a New Normal - Every Hike is a New Adventure

This hike did not disappoint!

 

Walking along the Hooper Bald Trail on the Cherohala Skyway, our eyes are focused on an explosion of color reds, orange/red, and yellow blooms of the Flame azaleas against a background of green foliage. White fluffy clouds are painted on a sky of various shades of blue.

 

Suddenly, we spy a little round globe flittering from leaf to leaf, first zigging to the left and then, with the precision of a tiny spaceship, turning and zagging to the right. Had our trail led us to a magical world of little fairies in this wonderland of azaleas and rhododendrons high atop a mountain in North Carolina?

 

No, I know these little creatures. I saw them at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Park on Earth Day 2019. Earth Day, how appropriate. I saw a glimmering globe resting on a moss-covered root beneath a huge old tree. I tried to touch the tiny orb gently. It moved slightly away from my touch. I tried again with the same result. The third time, I successfully touched it but could not even feel it on my fingertip. It lifted into the air and flew gracefully forward and away. Then, the tiny being hovered and began effortlessly to engage in happy yet evasive maneuvers until it landed on another mossy pad. What are you, little guy? Some of our hikers described it as a “shimmering orb” or a “disco ball covered in glitter.” Others called it a fairy.

 

What had we stumbled upon in this dense, inner world of ‘fairies’? After extensive research, I found that this little ‘fairy’ is a Balloon Fly. Male balloon flies of the family Empididae spin oval balloons of silk. They then fly in a swarm carrying their courtship objects aloft. Females approach the swarm and select their mates. As a female pair off with a male, she accepts his balloon. In some species of balloon flies, the male brings the female a dead insect to eat during copulation. This may prevent her from eating him. The male carries a dead insect inside a silk balloon in other species.

 

Yes, every day is a new normal – Every hike IS a NEW ADVENTURE!