“LOOK FOR SHOOTING stars,” I texted my daughter who was working nights last August. After getting home around 3 a.m., she and her friend watched the annual Perseid meteor shower from our yard in rural Georgia. They saw a few faint streaks in the sky but nothing spectacular. Her friend was bleary-eyed and ready to go in, but Zora kept her eyes on the horizon. Then it happened: A streak of white with a smoky blue tail hurtled through the sky and took their breath away. Several years ago, my husband saw a similar meteor, one that lasted long enough for him to proclaim throughout its sparkly display, “Holy smoke!!!”
Meteor showers are not the only luminous rewards for those who walk in darkness. Leigh Ann Henion’s new book Night Magic (Algonquin Books) serves as both guide and advocate for honing our night vision and waiting long enough to be surprised. Synchronous fireflies, luminescent glowworms, and fragrant night-blooming flowers are among the many wonders illuminating Henion’s Appalachian nocturnal habitat
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