last night patty came running in, breathless, exclaiming there were fireflies in our side yard, where the lawn meets the berm that leads to the marsh. i was really excited but desperate to see them too. so we turned off all the lights, put anything that glowed like a phone under pillows - created a blackout. it was beautiful all by itself, the dark. then the first bright blink, then another and another, and the little light show was underway.we sat in the quiet of deepening night and whispered like little kids, friend patty, cousin susie and me. patty said they were the first fireflies she'd ever seen!
all my summers on lake michigan growing up were filled with fireflies. they're not easy to catch but a few times i managed to trap several in mason jars and took them up to bed at the cottage to try and read by firefly. however two or three blinking bugs were more like mini strobe lights than lamps, and besides they slowed down pretty quickly and seemed sad. i always snuck back downstairs and let them go.
it seemed like there was a decade or two when fireflies almost disappeared. but about five years ago they happily appeared at the cottage on seal cove, and here they are on the river. the light they create is called bioluminescence, such a fittingly beautiful word for these little critters. there are photos, stories and ways to make your yard and neighborhood more lightening bug friendly at http://www.firefly.org/
luminescent, tiny white, bright sparkles, flashing off and on in the woods, over the meadows and right outside the cottage windows. summer is here.
