I grew up in a town along one of the Great Lakes, which meant on a summer evening the air was literally full of fireflies. Now that I live in the middle of Texas, the lack of luminous insects causes me considerable disappointment.

But, for people like me, who equate "lightning bugs" with fond childhood memories, there's now the Firefly Lamp -- a great way to get a little down-home comfort, no matter where you live.

From the designer: The firefly lamp is a marriage of simplicity and function. A thick square base made from recycled acrylic holds a nickel plated rod and fixture with a 5" bulb that encloses five miniature "fireflies."

Sounds cool, but unfortunately that comfort won't come cheap -- the lamps are $99 each from the company's website (they'd be $250 if you tried to purchase them at a retail outlet), and come with only one bulb each. Plus, it doesn't look very practical, as I can't imagine the bulb actually gives off much light. (That said, neither do real fireflies, so maybe that's the point.)

And -- lamps aside -- if you never had a chance to run around catching fireflies when you were a kid, I highly encourage you to give it a try. Nothing lights up a dark room like a plastic bottle filled with glowing bugs.