Nightswimming

I have never been comfortable in the dark.  As a child I couldn't sleep without a nightlight and I still leave a lamp on at night. In daylight I am serenely happy on mountains, in forests, on rocky outcrops or anywhere else for that matter. At night, being helped along by torchlight presents no problem.  This is fun, exhilarating, intensely exciting.

 

But the deep, dark night is different.  In the pitch blackness you are locked out of your ability to 'know'. I am not afraid of owls, snakes or spiders jumping out and pecking at my nose, I just don't feel comfortable without my vision. I am about as happy in a forest at night as any other human and I am envious of bats, cats, owls and snakes. 

 

To humans, night is an alien territory.  Without our vision it becomes frightening to touch, to taste, to hear, even to smell.  Long ago, nocturnal animals were believed to have magical powers. I'm not surprised. 

 

But this night was different.  A group of friends and I decided to take a break from our training camp and head into the forest for a swim. I am not the best swimmer but I wasn't saying no to an adventure. Not I. 

 

A few of us had torches, so seeing our way through the maze of thick, gnarled tree trunks would be easy going.  As we crossed the dirt road and entered the thicket we walked a little slower, forming the traditional 'snake' configuration as people do on narrow paths.  What we saw next made everyone in our little group exclaim with delight.

 

As our eyes adjusted to this unexpected scene we realized that the entire trail was lit up with luminous green glow worms!  Glow worms are tiny beetles that use light to send messages to each other in the darkness.  These little creatures produce chemicals in their stomachs and this makes them shine a bright, entrancing green into the darkness.  The light is flashed in a distinct colour and rhythm for each species.

 

The decision was unanimous! We switched off our torches right then and walked the rest of the way guided by our gaily, flashing friends.  I felt like a aeroplane being guided into the runway under cover of darkness.  It wasn't easy to find our way.  Above the knee it was just as dark as it had been; but there was something entrancing about our personal glow worm escort.

 

The air was cold and the forest sounds echoed in our ears, a squawk in the distance, the rustle of leaves underfoot, knowing your breath was vaporising off the night air, even though you couldn't see it.  We reached the swimming hole and spent a few hours there, knowing we would be tired in for our training session in the morning but knowing it was worth every second.

 

On the way back, the glow worms once again guided us on our journey.  By the time we arrived at base camp, our eyes were big, wide open, passionate. There is sweet surrender to be found absolutely everywhere.