Firefly Night by Yoote We spent two weeks of every summer in very rural Maine. My mother's family's summer house was deep in the woods, on a dirt road, and for fourteen days- it was home. I have countless wonderful memories from those summers- my Nana teaching me how to draw, swimming in the ice cold lake (more specifically, forcing my siblings to do synchronized swimming routines with me... they would die if they knew I told), playing some intense games of "Capture the Flag", and catching fireflies.
At home we did not have lightning bugs , so they were special to that place, that time. My mum would never let us keep them even overnight- we just put them in a jar to study for a couple of minutes before they were free to blink away. Every year we would spend at least one night chasing fireflies because it would be our only chance before returning to the land of regular old bugs and beetles. I remember it as one of the last things we would do every summer, because once we got back from Maine, school was just around the corner.
I read recently that there has been a decrease in the lightning bug population. It made me realize how long it has been since I've seen one. It made me realize it is that time of year again. Summer is ending. Schools are starting. It made me promise myself that next summer we would go somewhere to chase fireflies, hold them in a jar for just a couple of minutes, and then watch them blink away.
