One young student of life asked Lo Zu, “Of all the various types of clouds in the sky,
which is the one that you deem best?”
The great sage’s penetrating eyes sagaciously looked up and he said,
“Not the huge, mountainous, white towering clouds that have accumulated much. Neither the
saturated, heavy clouds, for each is darkly full of itself; nor the clouds that stretch, sheet-like,
blanketing the whole sky; they think that they know everything.
However, there is real beauty in the little, truly humble, faint cloud of no-mind that one can barely see,
that no one notices; it lets the sun through and helps illuminate the darkness. Fireflies can illuminate
darkness too; very few people love them like I love them.”
Firefly Illumination Happening!… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Fireflies were everywhere when I was a child, but they don’t favor many of the places I’ve lived since. Now, I’m near a wooded area where they flit and fly during the evening, and when I see them, I’m a kid again.
I can’t imagine living in an area without them. Well, though, we don’t have lizards running around here.
It truly does bring back the child when one really perceives them! 🙂
Love the tale, the insect and the photo!
Well said!
Thank you, LV! It was a fun one to write. 🙂 LV, it is best to comment under “Leave a Reply” at the far bottom of the whole series of comments; otherwise you will be replying to someone else’s Reply and it will be difficult for me to directly reply to them. (My Theme Format just works that way.) 🙂
I meant to reply to Belinda’s comment, which said exactly what I thought. In general, I will comment directly on the post.
Great to read, Belinda! Thank you much! 🙂
Wow!
An amazing photo! Unfortunately, fireflies are not common in FL, but when I lived in the midwest late 80s-early 90s, I enjoyed seeing them in the corn and soybean fields nightly throughout the summer.
Thank you, MP! 🙂 MissParker, it is best to comment under “Leave a Reply” at the far bottom of the whole series of comments; otherwise you will be replying to someone else’s Reply and it will be difficult for me to directly reply to them. (My Theme Format just works that way.) 🙂
Thank you, cc! 🙂
I love watching them charge up in the evening. I can see them pulsating, dimly glowing brighter and brighter until liftoff. Pretty cool. Great pic Tom. Well done!
They are pretty magical, aren’t they, Jim?!
Thank you! 🙂
Good thoughts on recognizing and appreciating the humble among us. I have fond childhood memories of catching fireflies in jars and sitting in the closet with my siblings. We all grew a little wiser from their illuminations.
Don’t ever lose that illumination! 🙂
a beautiful story and photo, Thomas. Have a nice weekend with your wife and Tweetie, kind regards Mitza
… and Scarlet, and the two little dogs, the many fish, shrimp, and aquarium plants! 🙂 (I’ve really been interested in new aquarium plants lately.) Hoping your weekend is great, Mitza!
WOW Tom, what an amazing shot. What kind of high-powered camera do you have to capture the right moment of illumination?
Thanks, Kym! 🙂 Olympus EM1 Mk2.
beautiful photo and thoughts.
Much appreciated! 🙂
Cool pic, Tom!
Always good to remember lots of little lights add up to a big glow together.
Yes, it’s neat when they communicate with each other… which is what they are doing. 🙂
How absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks, Jazz! They are quite magical! 🙂
That’s a nice story Tom and I heard a little factoid about fireflies yesterday – their illuminated bodies tell bats that they are not good to eat. When they light up, it deters the bats from going after them.
Wow, that’s very interesting, Linda! 🙂 I remember reading, long ago, that firefly derived repellants were being used to keep sharks at bay, but i don’t know if such things are still being used.
I also remember reading an article about recent research on the lighting patterns of fireflies. The research seemed to indicate that fireflies emit a certain code to define and communicate what their exact species is (as there are a lot of species of fireflies); additionally, they give a second signal that is more of a self-expression kind of thing (that is unique and that is their own little creation). Light-on, little fireflies! 🙂