Riley and the Firefly

The other night I was sitting at the kitchen table editing a new novel. Kelly was sitting opposite me writing in her journal, something she does every night before bedtime. She raised her head and asked, "What's Riley got over there?"

I turned my head to see Riley, my little gray cat, sitting on the rug just inside the kitchen door. He was staring intently at something I couldn't see against the kitchen cabinet. His eyes were huge and round- he was thoroughly entranced!

I leaned back in my chair and looked to see what it was that had him so absolutely mesmerized. The bright blink of light surprised me- it was a firefly sitting on the floor!

I told Kelly he was watching a firefly. Before I could get my camera and take a picture of his utterly fascinated expression she leapt up out of her chair crying, "I just read that fireflies are endangered! Don't let him kill it!"

I got up and picked up a still big-eyed, marveling Riley. She coaxed the insect away from the cabinet and got it to crawl into her hand.

The next thing I know there is my daughter standing in the kitchen with the firefly cupped protectively in her closed hands, peering in at it through a small gap- totally entranced by the flash of its butt light. I set Riley down on the floor and opened the screen door for her saying, "Take it outside and set it free." I had to say it twice before she stepped outside, still gazing into her hands.

She set it free and then wrote a little about her close encounter with the firefly in her journal. She and I have always gone out on the back deck to watch the twinkling fairy lights of the fireflies on summer nights. We have never had a firefly visit us in the house before, but some have come and clung to the exterior of the screens on summer nights and we've gently had to encourage them to move on when they've attracted the attention of the cats.

Nature is beautiful!