World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

The bibliography of the firefly is a tender and electric dress, a small flame sputtering in the ditches along a highway, and the elytra covering the hind wings of the firefly lift like a light leather, suppler than any other beetle’s.

I couldn’t believe something so full of light would be gone so soon.

As an adult, I’m still so drawn to light-soaked color displays.

How I wish I could fold inward and shut down and shake off predators with one touch.

I learned that all sunflowers eventually turn toward the sun.

It might take two to tango, but it only takes one to strut their stuff and shake their tail feathers, even a little bit.

I might have been able to pacify my increasingly restless self, might have been reminded of the promise that no

matter how cold your home pond feels, a thaw always draws near, eventually.

It is this way with wonder: it takes a bit of patience, and it takes putting yourself in the right place at the right time. It requires that we be curious enough to forgo our small distractions in order to find the world.

Where does one start to take care of these living things amid the dire and daily news of climate change, and reports of another animal or plant vanishing from the planet?

Maybe what we can do when we feel overwhelmed is to start small. Start with what we have loved as kids and see where that leads us.