After dark, points of golden light dance over an open field. They are lightning bugs looking for love on a summer night. Also known as fireflies, each species flashes a unique signal to attract a mate. In most species, the male makes the first move, sending his brilliant message while flying through the air, and the female responds from the ground or a low branch.
On summer nights, children capture lightning bugs in jars for a personal, magical light show, then release them and watch the tiny beacons scatter into the night.
A story told by the Native American Ojibwe people explains how fireflies came into being:
Young thunderbirds were playing a lively game of lacrosse in the sky. They lost control of the ball, and it crashed down to earth, creating Hudson Bay and thousands of lakes in the north country. The concussion was so great that it shook stars from the sky. The fallen stars took wing and became lightning bugs.
In Japan, the song "Light of the Firefly," sung to the same tune as "Auld Lang Syne," marks times of farewell, from graduations to stores closing for the day.
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I miss lightning bugs. They definitely remind me of being a kid during summer.
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