Lightening Bugs

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of advice for all of the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. They may not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 21 Catch Lightening bugs in jar... but let them go.

In the days before Wii and Iphones and Facebook, and DVD players, etc., summer, in the south was a glorious playing field. Anything was possible when the sun didn't go down until after 9. A child could stay outside all day long and get dirty, make mud pies, ride bikes, come in for dinner and then have at least three more hours left of the day. However, the best part of the day was that moment right after the sun had made its final bow into the night.
This was the moment when the lightening bugs came out. I always stopped and stood silently for just a moment as the lightening bugs began to make their presence known once again. I was always encouraged to catch them in a jar, but I was always supposed to let them go.
I would catch a couple, or a few, because lightening bugs get lonely very easily, and I would watch them ignite their beautiful flames. Their lights would flicker for a few brief moments and then I would unscrew the lid of the jar and send them on their way. Then I would do it again.
"Nature's night light" is what my Grandma called them. "They light up so all of God's creatures can find their way home at night."
It is such a peaceful twinkling of time to stand in the middle of a freshly mowed yard with a jar full of lightening bugs flickering. The soundtrack is the song that the crickets and the Katydids have chosen for the evening's entertainment. There is a still in the air and the smell of rain on the horizon. Children find these moments and cherish them. Why can't we catch lightening bugs in a jar as adults?
I highly encourage you, in these final days of summer, to go out in your yard, or someone else's and catch some lightening bugs in a jar. Watch them glow for a moment and then let them go so that all of God's creatures can find their way home.

On Traditions

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through expereince. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned from living. So, here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. They might not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each one is a rule that I either live by or wish I did.

#11 Take traditions seriously

I grew up in the south and down there, for the most part, it is a completely different way of thinking. My grandparents grew up on farms in northeast Mississippi. No food went to waste, they quitled to keep warm, clothes were passed from one sibling to the next and then mended until they could no longer be worn. Then they were turned into quilts. Flour came in giant cotton sacks, and when the flour was gone, the sacks were turned into quilts.
I know that this way of life has long since gone to the wayside. However, some things should stay the same. Listen when the older people in your life tell their stories. Write them down if you can. Trends come and go, but it will never again be the way it was when our grandparents, and even our parents were young.
If your family has traditions that have been going on for years, do your best to keep them. Or, create new ones. My family is large and extended, but before it was so large, it was long ago decided that everyone would buy a present for everyone at Christmas. One year, my cousins all got together and tried to change this. The "grown ups" all pitched such a fit that it was never even discussed again. Now everyone gets a present, but they might be very small.
If your family has a watergun fight every Memorial Day, or drinks hot chocolate while driving around looking at Christmas lights, or volunteers as a group to a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving, these are special memories that were created just for you. Cherish them. If you don't pass them on, no one else will.
This can also include hobbies such as quilting, knitting, hunting, and cooking. Take traditions and the skills and knowledge of your elders and keep them, hold on to them, and pass them down for future generations.