Childhood: Will-o-wispsIn 1997 we went camping in the boot heel of Missouri with my Papa. So you can

Childhood: Will-o-wisps

In 1997 we went camping in the boot heel of Missouri with my Papa. So you can imagine the setting, imagine dense deciduous forests, rolling hills that were once mountains, deep valleys, and tons of small wildlife like chipmunks and squirrels. The summer was hot and humid. Sticky. There were 2 scary nights there at our campsite.

The first weird night was when the raccoons came. There were hundreds of shimmering raccoon eyes in the darkness, and as they god closer and braver my Papa moved us kids to the truck. But the real freaky thing happened on the second night. We all sat around the fire as night fell, when our camp was surrounded by shimmering green lights that rose from the ground to hover and dance at about adult chest height. They were lime green balls with shimmery sparkles around them. There were hundreds of them stretching back into the forest at all sides. It reminded Papa of the Red Room, so he felt in danger and put us kids in the truck again. I was both afraid and in awe.

It triggered a childhood obsession with researching orbs, will-o-wisps, and spook lights. I felt like they appeared so often in my life, and were so beautiful and widely experienced, there had to be something going on. While I sadly don’t yet know exactly what they are for sure, I have experienced such more malevolence in my life, will-o-wisps are a kind and lovely experience that does not ever send fear through me anymore. I appreciate them, but I am not pulled to figure them out anymore. They are a welcome mystery.