Chasing Lightning Bugs

Looking out the window the other night

I was surprised and delighted to see

my woods all aglow 
with the twinkling of

 lightning bugs.

A clear sign that summer

is fast approaching!

Some Enchanted Evening

Compliments of the

Lightning Bugs

I remember one of the greatest delights

of my childhood summers was

running around in the front yard

after dark trying to catch

the lightning bugs!

These mysterious little creatures

usually come out right after sunset,

in the time of the gloaming,

or twilight, 

flashing their greenish glow

in warm summer air

awash with the lingering fragrance

 of wild honeysuckle and flowering
Indian Cigar trees.

My mother always

 managed to hunt up 

a  few glass canning jars

 and helped us kids poke

 air holes into the metal lids

 with a kitchen knife.

However, catching these
elusive winged creatures
often proved to be a lot
more challenging then
it seemed.

Prancing about barefoot 
across the front yard
 in the balmy night air,

 the first stars appearing

with the receding red glow of sunset
still visible in the western sky,

I would be homing in for the capture,

my jar in one hand and lid in the other,

when suddenly the little glow bug
I was chasing after

would turn off his light
and seem to vanish
right before my very eyes!

 

It has always made me wonder

if those tiny winged insects
 somehow knew they

were being pursued by

a little girl eager to
capture them in a
Mason jar!

Of course, when I did

catch one or several of them,

making sure there was a nest of

soft green grass at the bottom of

the jar for the bugs to rest in,

I never kept them for more

than a few hours.

Watching them crawling
up the sides of their
glass trap to the
 air holes in the lid

made me realize that the
little creatures

longed to be free again.

So, after a while,

off came the lid and

the beautiful glowing bugs

 eventually flew away, 

into the night...

and into my memories

of simple summertime pleasures

and the innocence

of childhood.

This classic song reminds

me of those happy days!