laughter, superman, and lightning bugs

Shannon and I have been at my parents' house the last several days. My brother flew in on Friday to join us for the extended holiday weekend. It was a good time; we all just wish it could have been longer. Laughter, good food, and swimming were among the highlights. Also--Lance, Shannon, and I went to see the Superman movie on Sunday afternoon. We barely gave it one thumbs up. If for nothing else, you go see the movie to observe Kevin Spacey perform yet another good act.

Last night and an hour into this morning the sky performed the lightning show. After the electricity got knocked out around midnight, Lance, Shannon, and I went out on the deck and lit candles. We talked for quite some time, among other things, about how thirty years from now we would look back on this day and realize how easy we had it. Soon, we will have our own families and life will be different. Good still, but different.

When conversation faded, we each stared off into the woods and awed at the world of lightning bugs. Those woods seemed so much larger when I was a child, indeed a world of its own. But when I was a child, I had never noticed this many lightning bugs. Like I said, life is different, but still good.