Chasing Fireflies - Bioluminescence
The crickets were chirping. Soon, the cicadas added their voices to the chorus. And, if you listened closely, you could hear an occasional bull frog fill out nature’s rhapsody with an enthusiastic deep throated croak. The sky was beginning to surrender its color, and the brightest of the stars began to appear. However, the most spectacular display had yet to begin. THERE! There it was! Out in the darkest portion of the backyard. If you wait for a moment you would see it again...there...and there! "Come on, dad," I shouted. "The lightning bugs are out!” With that, I bounced off of my temporary perch on the garage steps into a full sprint to the middle of the yard. That is how it always started. It began with one small flicker of light . A couple of minutes later it happened again. Then, BOOM! The world would flash on and off in nature’s finest light show. That's what happened when the lightning bugs were out! What went un