Light up the Night

I finally found out what the glowy things in the creek-bed are. They are larvae. Mary and Sam and I went out and caught them in the mud in the creekbed with a series of "Sam, shine the flashlight...okay, now turn it off!" and "No, over here" and "Turn it off I can't see its light when you are shining yours!"
Baby lightning bugs. Toddling fireflies. Glow worms! I guess I could have figured that out if I thought about it long enough. But I had to wiki fireflies, then, and find out more about them, and why they like the creekbed, and how long it will be before they are flying around so I can chase them and catch them. They are really fascinating little creatures, what? So, if you are as curious as i am read on.

These little guys eat baby slugs and grubs and maggots in the wet marshy areas. All the while, they make the creek beds twinkle and sparkle with their mysterious beautiful lights, so it looks like someone decorated it for Christmas. Did you know that the light they produce is completely cold, using neither infrared nor UV, which means their energy efficiency in converting it directly to light is over %90, whereas a lightbulb wastes over %90 in heat? The light attracts prey (they eat other bugs) or a mate, which is sometimes the same thing. The light is activated by an enzyme. Cool huh?

well, anyway, I think so. But sometimes what makes me excited is not so exciting as i think it ought to be.
* * * * * *

How countlessly they congregate...

I wish you all could see how the stars are shining tonight. I took me going away to school to really appreciate them, as sudden deficiency often does. You cannot see the stars on campus like you can here. They are so gorgeous I actually tried to take a picture of them, like a stupid tourist. But you can't. You just have to see them.

I just saw my 8th shooting star in a week. Every time I witness one it sends a tingle down my spine. Once (when I saw a particularly amazing one: auburn with an indigo blue tail) I even scared myself by spontaneously shouting "Oh, my God!" and then quietly, "thank you, that was beautiful!".

What is it about shooting stars that is so riveting? I think perhaps part of it, besides the incredible unexpected intense beauty, is the fact that I feel privileged to have seen it. I mean, of all the billions of people on earth, most are either sleeping, under a roof, or under the sun. Of the few people who could have seen it, how many were actually looking up at that instant and at that part of the sky? Probably very few. There were probably a few other human beings on earth who witnessed that brilliant display of God's glory.

The trail it leaves behind is amazing too. It almost goes so fast that you wonder for a second if your eyes were playing tricks on you, and then you realize that the tail holds out for just a second longer to assure you that you saw the truth.

I see skies of blue, clouds of white, the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night...And I think to myself what a wonderful world!