Summer delights: Fireworks, butterflies, avoiding mosquitoes

Carter Crane editor of The Voice
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Thoughts, notes, quotes, and bits of information which could prompt growth; none of which may reach headline status, however, nuggets often have their places and may yield simple charm:
• Most of us enjoy fireworks, both for historical purposes and a happiness factor with colors, delights, fulfilling expectations of dramatic explosions. The first recorded fireworks in the United States was July 4, 1777, one year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence from British rule. The first fireworks may have been in 1040 by the Chinese to ward off evil spirit. Is there a connection with British tyranny? North Aurora, which for approximately 10 years joined in with Aurora to produce a fireworks display for both communities, this year produced its own fireworks for the second year. See the North Aurora Tuesday fireworks display at facebook.com/thevoice.us and see the Aurora Independence Day parade video.
• Another Summer ritual is here: The mosquito. The Village of Oswego communications department reminds us that May rain and warm June temperatures could be responsible for a huge supply of floodwater mosquitoes which would be hatching soon. We are not all equally affected by mosquitoes, with compatible blood a leading cause of attraction. Caution is urged.
• In the garden: Butterflies are subjects of beauty and delight to many for good reason. There is a theme this week in The Voice, including a memorial for the late Fran Caffee, environmentalist, on page 13, and photographic displays by former Aurora mayor Tom Weisner at the Santori Public Library of Aurora. See page 9. More than little girls and big girls like butterflies which are not homogenous. It is a learning curve for at least one, so here are six butterflies in Illinois: Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta); Viceroy (Limenitis archippus); Monarch (Danaus plexippus); Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui); Cabbage White (Pieris rapae); Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). Grace and beauty frame butterflies, among other characteristics.
• Friends of the Fox River will teach fly-casting Saturday at Schweitzer Environmental Center, 16N900 Sleepy Hollow Road, West Dundee, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m..
• Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) in Aurora held a successful international student science fair, which ended Saturday.
• Illinois passed the Equal Rights Amendment May 31, 72-45, and is the 37th state to ratify the U.S. Constitutional Amendment. One more state to pass the ERA amendment would take it back to Congress.
• All of us must do a better job of understanding situations in society without knee-jerk reactions. Poise!

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