When I was growing up in central Maine, in the 1950s, any time we filled the tank in the car with gas, we had to wash the windshield because it was covered with the remains of many moths and insects.

As a kid, I delighted in going onto the front lawn and seeing many lightning bugs flying above the lawn. It was fun to catch them and release them before bedtime.

At a fishing camp in the Rangeley Lakes, in the 1970s, the camp kitchen had a screen door and one very sultry warm night, I vividly remember, it was covered with hundreds of moths that were attracted by the light in the kitchen.

Here we are in the summer of 2021. Since the beginning of bug season, I have not had to wash our car windshields. Maybe there is a single moth or whatever. As I think back, I have not had to wash dead bug bodies from the wind shields or the fronts of our cars for many years.

This summer, I saw two lightning bugs in our backyard trying to find a mate.

The light is still in the kitchen on the shore of one of the Rangeley Lakes, but there are no moths on the door on warm, sultry nights

So where are the bugs? If there are no bugs, what do the birds eat? If they find no bugs, what happens to them? And the next question is: Who will be next to go away?

Bill Lucas
Kennebunk

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