Mom's Lifelong Dream Realized

Ever since I first read of fireflies in a book, I wanted to see if they were real. When I realized my dream of weeks in the Pennsylvania countryside would actually materialize, one of the first things I did was get online and see if fireflies live here. They do.

I never thought to look for them the first few nights we were here--I was too busy setting up house and figuring out logistics. But when it did occur to me to look for them, the beautiful little bugs were nowhere to be seen. I was crushed.

One night last week, I was awakened around 1230 am and I couldn't go back to sleep. As I gazed out the window, I saw a satellite's flickering light through the tree branches. Funny thing--the satellite moved not farther up in the sky, but it moved closer to the ground. And then there were dozens of lights, glimmering all through the pasture.

I was totally enamored by their glittering white lights, and even though it was almost 1 am, I crawled to the window and just watched. For almost thirty minutes I knelt on that hard floor, hardly believing that I was living a childhood dream.

I'm sure fireflies are one of the initial motivators behind fairy myths, because I could barely believe my eyes when I observed their appearance then disappearance then reappearance somewhere farther away. It was truly magical.

Every night since, we've tried to catch fireflies. Most of the time, the little buggers end up squished on their way into the net cages.

But tonight--we were successful. More than thirty fireflies are flickering their way into my kids' memories as they drift off to sleep tonight.

And I will watch their enchanted dance out my own window as I go to sleep, knowing that my nights with this bewitching sight are coming to a close.

I will never forget tonight.