light up the sky

the season has finally arrived....

i have heard rumors that my friends that live in the countryside have had their first siting weeks ago and i have been waiting for the summer arrival of my favorite illuminated bug..

the firefly or lighting bug (depending on where you are from)

a summer occurance that escaped me my first 7 years of my life and i can still remember the wonder of seeing them for the first time.

it was way back when i was about seven and my family was making a quite tramatic move from california (land of sun and beaches) to tennessee (land of muddy rivers and tornadoes) via a stop at my grandparents house in new jersey. that summer we came to stay with them was the first time that i had seen fireflies. my sister and i made our way out into the yard and in the tradition of all little kids proceeded to catch these little buggers in mason jars filled with grass.

foolishly we though our mason jar "bio dome" would be a great place for these bugs that did not bite! so we kept them and sadly by morning they were no more.....lights out :(

the next night we were a little more experienced and had learned the valuable lesson that some things are better left to watch instead of capturing. we now knew that nature could take care of its own and the fireflies were a gift for us to enjoy for a brief time and then wait in anticipation for their return the following year.

i think that is one of the things that made the move to tennessee bearable....my mom assured us that there would be fireflies and there were.....of course as i found out when i moved there, there was also elvis, mud island and the peabody hotel. these fascinating places never quite replaced a life beachside, but it sure helped keep a kid amused.