Signs of Summer

Is there something that signals the arrival of summer for you?

For me, at least these days, the first lightning bug is the sign that summer is here.  I saw the first lightning bug of the season earlier this week, and it just made me grin.  It didn't matter that temperatures had been in the 80's and 90's for weeks, or that my office planted the summer flowers.  It's not summer in the south until I see a lightning bug.

It's funny, because I actually had never seen a real live lightning bug until I moved to the South almost four years ago.  I'd heard of them, of course, and seen them on TV and in movies, but I had never seen one.  The first night I was outside in the summer, the whole yard was full of them.  I just stood there and stared at them, for a very long time.

I'm not a fan of bugs, usually, but these guys are special.  There's something almost magical about them, and I still find myself just standing outside at night, watching the lightning bugs flying through the sky.