Wishing you a wonderful Earth Day!

one of my most magical experiences on Earth

There’s nothing quite like calling the woods “HOME” for the night.

It’s one of my favorite ways to rest and reset, and I’m blessed to have found a fearless friend who also loves to explore the woods, get dirty, build fires, enjoy silence, and search for magical fairies.

Wait… magical fairies?

Yes! And they are truly magical!

Technically, they aren’t fairies, but that’s what the blue ghost firefly is affectionately called. They are a rare type of firefly that only glows during mating season, and is only found in certain parts of the North Carolina mountains. Their mating season is short, so there’s no guarantee that you’ll see the blue ghost fireflies, and as quickly as they arrive, they disappear until another year passes.

Their blue light is different from the orange glow people often associate with fireflies, and their lights stay lit more continuously.

It’s rare to see them, but we were excited to try!

We ventured deep into the Appalachian mountains, which are the oldest in America, and found a quiet spot to call home for the night.

We were out of cell phone range, and had passed no other campers or cars for the last 30 minutes of our drive.

We had achieved TOTAL ISOLATION.

The scenery around us was gorgeous and different every way I turned. Without a good sense of direction, it would be easy lose the campsite.

This forced us to connect and adapt with our surroundings in a new way.

Suddenly trees became familiar and boulders marked our path. We needed the markers to guide us “home.”

By nightfall, we knew where the brush and the clearings were. We wanted to be near both.

Earlier, we claimed the boulders we would sit on to wait for the fairies to arrive. We didn’t want to fumble around in the dark or disturb the ground, as that’s where they can frequently be seen dancing on the forest floor.

At dark, we used the light of a lantern to make our way to the boulders. We got comfortable…

…and we waited…

… and we waited…

… and waited…

…and we finally gave up.

We returned to the fire, and resolved to enjoy the rest of our night despite not any fireflies at all.

We were talking, telling stories, and laughing for a long while when we began to see the twinkling of a few soft blue lights.

One or two every few minutes turned into seeing several every minute, so we ran out into the woods, away from the light of the fire to get a better look.

Sticking close to one another, we realized we were in complete blackness. Suddenly, the woods had become so dark I could not see my hand in front of my face.

Somehow rounding the corner and having the fire to our backs meant that to our front was velvety darkness, a sensation that is both - freeing and terrifying.

With the exception of an occasional crackling from the fire and a distant stream, there was no noise. The loudest audible sound was my own breathing.

Here, we were in total silence and darkness…

two grown women -

eyes open wide as can be -

holding our breaths -

and hoping.

“As if somehow called upon by the start of a song we could not hear, they began their dance.”

As if somehow called upon by the start of a song we could not hear, they began their dance.

The swirling blue fireflies were rising from the forest floor.

Tiny blue lights were swirling all around and in every direction almost instantly.

We marveled and laughed and giggled and were in delightful awe of the magic happening around us - at our feet, around our heads, and as far as we could see into the darkness.

There was quiet magic all around us that night.

We stood in the midst of mother Earth and watched fairies dance with childlike curiosity, and not with my wildest imagination could I have dreamed up a moment like that.

This was the best image I was able to capture of them, which inspires me to try again for a better shot.

Maybe this year! It’s almost that time again!

What a wonderful world!

Our Earth holds unfathomable innate wisdom and intelligence from God. People try desperately to understand her and to make sense of her through our sciences, but there truly is nothing like experiencing her.

We left nothing behind at our campsite except leftover firewood and a magical memory.

Wishing you a very Happy Earth Day!

If you’ve read this far, thank you for allowing me to share my magical memory with you!

💙🌎💚 J

Please share your magical Earth stories in the comments!