Lightning Bugs

We lived at the end of a cul-de-sac in a little white house that had a root cellar and a big old oak tree in the yard. From the tree hung a large and very cool tire swing, with the tire hanging vertically as all cool tire swings are hung.

The house had a little porch with a porch swing. And a big hilly back yard with dogwood trees and honeysuckle. In the springtime the whole back yard would smell like honeysuckle. It was amazing.

Because of the very large and very cool tire swings kids came from all over to play at our house. Well, probably the tire swing and my own extremely cool 8 year old self. Mostly, we played with Danny. Danny was 9 months younger than my brother and I and when I was 5 years old, I was absolutely convinced that I would marry Danny.

I did not. But there's not much use arguing with your 5 year old self.

There weren't many kids in our neighborhood, but I had friends from Brownies. Suzanne and Michelle who were twins and also a girl named Andrea. Then there were friends from Church--they were the ones I played with a lot; Jody and Rachel and Carrie. My brother had other friends but he mostly played with Danny.

I'm sure you remember how it was...my brother and Danny playing GI Joes, the three of us climbing trees and taking turns in the tire swing. My sister would rake up the leaves from the trees in the fall and my brother and I would jump from the porch into the piles. It was all of 3-4 feet high but we felt so brave at the time.

We would sit together on those summer twilight nights on the porch and watch thunderstorms roll in. My brother and I chasing lightning bugs until it was too dark and we had to go in. I suppose it was the magic of childhood, but lightning bugs were never bugs to me. There is some fundamental difference between lightning bugs and say, a cockroach, or a bee that will sting you. I loved lightning bugs. I still do.