fireflies

Full moon the other night

Another day of "retirement" took me to Montpelier yesterday for meetings, back to Rutland, and then up to the Zen Center in Shelburne for the Thursday evening sitting. Got home about 10:00 and pretty tired. Walking into the house noticed that the fireflies have arrived; blinking cheerily in the back. The season of magic has begun.

I grew up in California which is too dry for fireflies. I remember visiting family in Ohio as a boy, and being awestruck by the fireflies. I used to put them in my suitcase when heading home; hoping to introduce them to California, no such luck. Please don't report me to the Dept. of Agriculture.

It was still twilight when they reached the flat rock. They sat, and the stone still held the warmth of the day's sun. At first, there were only occasional sparkles, but as it got darker Chuck was lost in a daze of delight as a galaxy of fireflies twinkled on and off, flying upward in a blaze of light, dropping earthward like falling stars, moving in continuing effervescent dance.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

Madelaine L'Engle