Fireflies illuminate summer memories

Lightning bugs, or fireflies, bring back happy memories of childhood hunts for the luminous beetles.

from the July 20, 2007 edition

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After everyone left, I crashed on the living room floor and later magically awoke in my bed next to my teddy bear.

The Mason jar sitting on my nightstand lighted my room, my face, and my dreams. By morning the jar had lost its magic, its occupants motionless on the bottom.

But now the summers of childhood are over. I now know the lightning bug is a beetle. And I know that the male lightning bug flashes to attract females to mate, and females respond with their own flashes. Not only do I know what bioluminescence is, I can spell it, too.

I know that if I fall asleep on the living-room floor, no one will carry me to bed.

I know that there are things in this world and in this life that you can't hold on to forever. You can try to preserve them in glass jars, but by morning they'll be gone.

I know that fall will be followed by winter, winter followed by spring, and spring by the return of lightning bugs.

I went the entire summer last year without catching a single lightning bug. I'm quicker, taller, and faster than I used to be. When it comes to catching lightning bugs, I'm in my prime. I've got no excuse.

So this summer, I'll kick off my shoes, get out of the lawn chair, and catch one. After that, who knows?

Lightning bugs aren't easy to catch, but they're even harder to let go.

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