Magic in the Sky

It's that time of the year again. When the evenings begin getting warm and humid, nature pulls out her perennial summer night lights and casts them into the shadowy spots under trees and the low misty spots in fields. Her fireflies dance and whirl to what must be secret fairy songs and inspire children to laughter. When I was a child, my grandmother showed me the toad stools that popped up after a summer shower where she said the fairies had sheltered from the storm. She told me to watch in the evening so that I could catch sight of the fairies flying and playing chase with the fireflies. Every time I see a firefly now, I think of my grandmother's voice in my ear and the joy that I'd feel bubbling in my chest when I spied that first firefly of the evening.

Miss Rumphius

When my daughter was a little girl, my mother gave her a book, like most librarian grandmothers are want to do. This book, Miss Rumphius written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney, quickly became one of our favorites. We read it before bed, we read it in the park, we read it at nap time, and we gave it to all of her friends for birthdays. Like so many children, there is that one book that becomes a favorite. This book, however, became a favorite of mine, too.