Fireflies!

First, let me say this is a really strange place. I am lost geographically, but I really want to see what a 'great' lake looks like. I am not sure if I am by one or not because it seems like every three miles there is another lake, and none of them have been that 'great' yet. My flight connected in Minneapolis and I tried the whole plane ride to think of what state that was in. Turns out its in Minnesota, according to the 'Made in Minnesota' stores in the airport.

I took a taxi from the airport to my house of the next two months. The driver for some reason thought I was from Wisconsin, and I engaged him in conversations about gas prices and weather, so he wouldn't think otherwise. Considering I was completely at his mercy for those 15 minutes between the airport and my house, I thought it was a good idea.

When I got to my house, the key was not left where my future roommate had told me it would be, but the girls upstairs let me in and the door to our apartment was unlocked. I met one of my two roommates, her name is Laura and she just graduated from uw-madison with a degree in behavioral psychology (?). Its interesting that they say 'u-double u' here instead of 'u-dub' that would explain the weird look my airplane rowmate gave me. Unless that look was in response to me studying Tagalog, which also happens all the time.

The house and my room are both pretty standard. With the exception that my room has no ceiling light. I am told none of them do, which seems kind of odd. But I have a decent sized window and a sliding door out to the patio. Which brings me to the coolest thing I have seen all month. Fireflies.

I have not come up with a very good way to describe them yet, but I will do my best in case you have not seen them before either. At first I described them to my dad as like little shooting stars because you have no idea where they will appear next and their little burst of light only lasts long enough to catch your attention before they disappear into the darkening sky. (two hours later here). However they are way cooler than shooting stars because they are so close you could catch them if you are braver than I am and actually want to see what they look like up close. My roommate Leanne has seen them before and could only describe them as magical. I feel like seeing them up close might ruin that magic for now.

I don't know if any of you have experienced it before but they also remind me of bioluminescence, which is one of my favorite things about night dives, and the ocean in general. If you are diving at night, whether in puget sound or the tropics (at least everywhere I have been so far which is fairly limited) turn off your dive light for a second, and wave your arms around in the darkness. Little zooplankton in the water column will release a substance that glows bright blue for just an instant. They use this bioluminescence to communicate (i.e. attract a mate, warn off a predator etc...) And I think its fascinating! If you ever have the opportunity to sail anywhere at night, go to the stern and look for it in the wake of the boat. Its possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

But these fireflies are the closest thing to that I will find out here in the midwest, and for now thats okay.