The other night, I was heading out to the camper to write. We have been blessed with some lovely, cool nights so we’ve been taking advantage of that and “camping” at the Ponderosa. We still haven’t fixed up our “campground” here on the five acres. It seems there is always something else needing our attention. Hopefully, it won’t just be a pipe dream and we will have this ground available so my camping friends can join me.

I was wearing my headlamp, and as I passed the garden, something caught my eye. When I turned to look, the light reflected back from two eyes staring intently at me. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dark and I could make out that it was a bunny…in my garden. Exactly where bunnies should NOT be. I shooed her away and started to turn when….something else caught my eye.

There were dozens of tiny green dots all around the garden. It was as if the place had suddenly been enchanted by fairies with tiny green lanterns. These little green lights were intermingled with tiny white lights like glittering diamonds. I was mesmerized…and quite puzzled.

I decided to just stand very still and observe. Perhaps the answer would reveal itself to me. It didn’t take too long to figure out the white glittery lights were reflections off the dew that was gathering on the grass. It was lovely and a bit disconcerting…like looking down at stars. As I marveled at the sight, one of the green “lanterns” moved ever so slightly. I tried to count the green lights, but there were too many…though much fewer than the white ones.

I had to get closer to see what these green lights were. At first, I thought perhaps they were a phenomenon called foxfire, a bioluminescent fungus that can grow in woody areas. I’ve never really seen it in person, but the photos I’ve seen didn’t match this save for the fluorescent green color. No, this was something entirely different.

I crept forward ever so slowly keeping my eyes trained on one particularly bright green spot. When I was about five feet away, it jumped! It slowly dawned on me. I was surrounded by spiders on the move in the grass and when they looked at me as I walked through their territory, they light reflected back from their eyes…just like the bunnies did…and the deer that bed down in the far field. I was enchanted! It was magical to discover something that has been there my whole life and suddenly “discover” it at the age of 67.

I was so entranced but the sight, I didn’t think to try to film them. I went out the next night, but we had mowed the lawn and there weren’t as many spiders. But I did find this video where a guy found the same thing in his yard. As a matter of fact, his video looks exactly like what I saw so I thought I would share it with you HERE.  

There are tiny treats in life. Little gifts that remind us there is so much more going on in the world than the horror du jour on the news and social media. I took a moment to thank God for giving me the eyes to see His beautiful creations, the place to look for them, and the time to slow down and appreciate them for the gifts they are.

I hope you look for the tiny gifts God brings you today. They are everywhere…if you ask to see them and take the time to look.

❤️

“Don’t be fooled, my dear friends. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.”

James 1:16-17 CEV