I grew up in Indiana and read A Girl of the Limberlost over and over and over. Even now, it's a comfort read when I just want to feel cozy. CW: there is some wildly classist shit in there, if anyone decides to pick it up. But anyway, Gene Stratton Porter was an important naturalist and photographer at the turn of the century, and recorded a lot of native species in a race against time as people were draining the Limberlost for farmland. Her photography was particularly important, since she actually waited, sometimes for hours, to get just the right shot of a bird, while other photographers of the time would shoot the bird, have it stuffed, then take a picture of that.

Anyway, she also wrote a lot about moths, especially in Moths of the Limberlost, if you can get your hands on a copy. I got a deal on a really banged up copy because I can't afford a pristine first edition, like I'd like to. I really liked her description of luna moths and looked up pictures at the library. They are soooo pretty. I just love their color, and the long tails on their wings are so pretty and graceful looking. Later, I was in high school and on a trip somewhere with my church youth group when we stopped to eat at some rest stop along the road. There we were, in a Taco Bell or McDonalds or whatever parking lot, and all of a sudden, a little flock of luna moths started flying under the parking lot lights, and the totally mundane became magical. To this day, it's the only time I've seen a live luna moth, and it's a cherished memory. It even makes me long for my Indiana home a bit, though Lord, I can't go back there.