- Lightning Bug Death Spiral
What is more “summer” than lightning bugs and wiffle ball? This photo combines the two and throws in a touch of “wow”.
My kids are avid baseball players and the idea for this concept came while dusk fell during a wiffle ball game. It was the last day of school, the first day of summer and spirits were high.
As the sun fell below a shimmering, nectar-colored horizon and the disappointment rose on the imminent end to the wiffle ball game due to darkness, it became much easier to hit the fireflies than the wiffle ball as they shined their little ephemeral effervescence tantalizingly in front of my children who just could not abstain from the allure of such a minuscule and fleeting – yet brilliant – target. As each little bug met its demise with a firm thud at impact, it would involuntarily illuminate its flash in one last dismaying burst of light, arcing through the thick night like a meteorite burning through the heavens as it disintegrates to nothing. In fact, judging by the “oohs” and “ahs”, it was just as impressive to the innocent children as a meteor shower or fireworks display.
A (poorly photoshopped) illustration
Yes, they felt bad for the little Photuris lucicrescens as the Owl City song “Fireflies” played in my head. Some children preferred to catch them and put them in a jar – a sure slow, agonizing and suffocating death for the little bioluminscent guys. But my kids were content to allow the blinking beetles to proudly go down in a blaze of glory, in a final death spiral all the way to the ground where they lay for just a moment as their beacon of life slowly diminished to nothing.
Yes, the little guys were looking for love, but only found a wiffle bat which, ironically, was the same color as their incandescent mating call.
Such is life; such is wiffle ball. Such is summer.
YvF
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About Yorick von Fortinbras
YvF is a writer, musician that stays sane by being creative while navigating the demands of life, looking for those holes where a spark can get through.
The Functional Lunatic 
Ah, Summer: Wiffle Ball…and Lightning Bugs in a Death Spiral
What is more “summer” than lightning bugs and wiffle ball? This photo combines the two and throws in a touch of “wow”.
My kids are avid baseball players and the idea for this concept came while dusk fell during a wiffle ball game. It was the last day of school, the first day of summer and spirits were high.
A (poorly photoshopped) illustration
Yes, they felt bad for the little Photuris lucicrescens as the Owl City song “Fireflies” played in my head. Some children preferred to catch them and put them in a jar – a sure slow, agonizing and suffocating death for the little bioluminscent guys. But my kids were content to allow the blinking beetles to proudly go down in a blaze of glory, in a final death spiral all the way to the ground where they lay for just a moment as their beacon of life slowly diminished to nothing.
Yes, the little guys were looking for love, but only found a wiffle bat which, ironically, was the same color as their incandescent mating call.
Such is life; such is wiffle ball. Such is summer.
YvF
Share this:
Like this:
Related
About Yorick von Fortinbras
YvF is a writer, musician that stays sane by being creative while navigating the demands of life, looking for those holes where a spark can get through.