fireflies

I don't know if you can tell, but that little greenish streak on the right side of the picture is a firefly. My youngest sister Kristin took the picture. She came down to visit me after Hill Cummorah Pageant a few years back and was as excited to see the fireflies as I always am. I remember we had just finished a private Capitol tour (thanks to Kristin flirting with the Capitol PD and getting us the exclusive) and found some fireflies hanging out under a tree between the Capitol and the Mall. Kristin was determined to get a picture so chased those blinking babies around with the camera for a good 10 minutes before landing this shot.

See, we are from California, a firefly-less land with blissfully great weather. When I was a kid we visited my cousins in Illinois and I first saw them. Glowing and blinking like little ferries that frolicked around in the woods. It was not until I moved to DC that I remember seeing them again. They come in with the humidity. So every year when I am loathing the muggy, sticky, disgusting weather, one thing that gives me solace is knowing that without it there would be no fireflies. I am not sure why I love them. I just do. They are magical luminous little creatures that dance around without a care in the world. If reincarnation exists I would like to come back as a firefly; that sounds like a good life.

*sidenote: I would make sure to be reincarnated as the fastest firefly ever so no one could catch me and squish me to make a glow streak.