One of the side effects of the exceptionally warm weather we've been having is the untimely appearance of fireflies. Normally, fireflies, or Lightning Bugs, do not appear here until April or May, but I saw a couple Monday evening and by last night there were dozens of them flashing from ground level up to about forty feet above the old Boggy Thicket.
Their appearance reminded me of a trip to see relatives in Oklahoma when I was eight or nine years old. It was on that trip that I learned to make Lightnin' Bug Jewelry. My cousins and I caught hundreds of the little critters, then tore them apart and stuck their glowing rear ends to our hands and forearms to make rings and bracelets.
It seemed like great fun at the time, and I don't think we had a serious effect on the Oklahoma ecology, but now it seems to be incredibly thoughtless and cruel.
If I go to Hell, I'd hate to think it was for mistreating a bug.
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