Glow of summer

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with kids today.

They don’t go out and catch lightning bugs.

On summer evenings, when back yards and front yards are full of fireflies, they are inside next to the air conditioner vents, doing whatever children do these days.

They’re not barefoot in the driveway or watching from the porch, waiting for the curtain to fall on the day, when twilight arrives and the fireflies choreograph their syncopated dance at dusk.

Blink.

There’s one over there.

Blink.

Now he’s over there.

Blink.

Shhhh!!!! Over by the camellia bush. Down by the mailbox.


Blink.

How many can we catch? How many can we keep?

I believe the Good Lord places a certain number of lightning bugs on this earth, intending them to be captured by the children of summer.

We used to put them in mason jars and poke holes in the lid so they could breathe (they would die anyway). We would keep them in our bedroom and, when the lights were turned out, the jar would glow until the wee hours of the morning.

Kids today go to sleep by the glow of the television.

They don’t know what they’re missing.

(Art courtesy of Bender & Bender Imaging www.benderimaging.com)