The Magic of a Summer Evening

I've made no secret of the fact that I am no fan of summer. I hate the heat, the humidity, the bugs, the yardwork, the higher utility bills for air conditioning to keep my little ramshackle house even somewhat cool- -I hate it all.

But there are fleeting moments of magic that do occur, almost always late in the evening when I'm getting ready to wrap up a day and they inevitably involve the furry creatures I live with. Last night was one of those times.

I usually take my two giant German Shepherds out for the last time of the day right around 10 o'clock. I set them loose in the backyard and sit in one of my high-dollar plastic adirondack chairs to watch whatever antics they perform, whilst swatting bugs off of myself, until I'm satisfied they've accomplished their mission and had a bit of enjoyment too.

Last night, the enjoyment was all mine. I took them out a bit early, around 9:30, so it was still fairly light. No sooner had we stepped into the backyard than fireflies filled the airspace around my pups in the humid summery haze of gathering twilight.

The lovely bugs were so thick around Bella and Zeus that they were shaking their big ears to clear them of the blazing beetles. My dogs and the fireflies seemed to move together in a mesmerizing, almost slow-motion dance in the somewhat overgrown lawn, rich with fragrant white clover.

It was definitely an enchanting 30 minutes from this otherwise distasteful season. But as George R.R. Martin said in  Game of Thrones, "Summer will end soon enough. . .".