Lightning bugs in a jar
One of the things I love most about having the wireless DSL is the fact that most of my block is asleep - and I am laying in a chaise lounge on the back patio listening to the crickets hum. The wind is rustling through the bouganvillea, as I curl up and search for the stars. Unfortunately, there is a street lamp in my neighbor's backyard which is incredibly bright, obliterating the hope I had for stargazing. [thinking as an aside - you know I'm a frightenly good shot with a rifle. I was best marks(wo)man in the corp back in the day (I did it for p.e. credit - ROTC and bowling - nice combo eh?). Too bad my bleeding heart doesn't own a gun. It wouldn't be so damn bright if I did].
Before my parents moved to their current house, they lived down a white dirt road in an incredibly small town. We had horse stables in the back (Santa really did bring me a pony one year). I used to go out by the stables in the summer, and lay down in the deep grass watching the heavens, chewing on a piece of straw and hoping to witness a shooting star. Inhaling the scent of hay, I would wait patiently for hours as the lightning bugs pulsed out messages to each other in code. I would catch some and put them and a handful of grass in a mayo jar with holes poked in the lid. With my natural lantern behind me, I would stretch out in the cool grass, viewing the constellations with the same wonder as millions of children before me.
Tonight I can make out the barest remnants of Orion, but the street lamp obscures all but the brightest of the stars. Ashton (my other cat) is curled up at my feet. He doesn't care about the stars.
On the way home tonight it was pouring. An SUV cut me off and I spun out on the highway. Six inches spared me from being shoved under a semi-truck. Sobbing, I pulled off the road trying to remember how to breathe.
Spooned by the night sky, my breathing levels off.
Star light, star bright... first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
I wish I had a way of expressing how grateful I am for laughter, for love, for friendship. I hope those near and dear to my heart know how much they are loved. They always have been and always will be.
Before my parents moved to their current house, they lived down a white dirt road in an incredibly small town. We had horse stables in the back (Santa really did bring me a pony one year). I used to go out by the stables in the summer, and lay down in the deep grass watching the heavens, chewing on a piece of straw and hoping to witness a shooting star. Inhaling the scent of hay, I would wait patiently for hours as the lightning bugs pulsed out messages to each other in code. I would catch some and put them and a handful of grass in a mayo jar with holes poked in the lid. With my natural lantern behind me, I would stretch out in the cool grass, viewing the constellations with the same wonder as millions of children before me.
Tonight I can make out the barest remnants of Orion, but the street lamp obscures all but the brightest of the stars. Ashton (my other cat) is curled up at my feet. He doesn't care about the stars.
On the way home tonight it was pouring. An SUV cut me off and I spun out on the highway. Six inches spared me from being shoved under a semi-truck. Sobbing, I pulled off the road trying to remember how to breathe.
Spooned by the night sky, my breathing levels off.
Star light, star bright... first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
I wish I had a way of expressing how grateful I am for laughter, for love, for friendship. I hope those near and dear to my heart know how much they are loved. They always have been and always will be.
posted by April at 12:15 AM
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