bioluminescence

But he's still heading down those tracks

Any day now for sure

Another day as drab as today

Is more than a man can endure

The shovel slices into the dirt, falling into the rhythm of the music while clearing my head. At the lyrics above, I pause to let my mind wander. A year ago, these words would have resonated and stung. But what about when you've headed down those tracks and you're following your dream? What then becomes the non-reality? The fantastic yearnings? A strange proposition. I've heard it said that following your dream is dangerous in that it then becomes common and vulgar thereby ruining the magic. That hasn't happened to me but I felt that longing for so long it's a bit odd to not feel in limbo anymore. It is dark now but I still need, well want, to finish the task at hand. Plus, I'm not sure how I feel about having versus pursuing a dream and need some kinetic motion.

Wait, what was that? Down in the dark hole that I've dug is a small glowing dot. This is suburban Houston. I haven't seen any fireflies in a LONG time and I've never seen any glow worms here. It fades and I think my eyes have tricked me with a play of light. I continue digging and lo and behold, there it is again except now there are two of them. I run inside, grab a flashlight and holler at my son to follow me outside. He's not keen to be parted from The Simpsons but a lover of the outdoors, he comes reluctantly. Anxious to get back inside, he impatiently asks what is he supposed to be looking for. I dig some more and sure enough, a gasp from his mouth errupts as he spots it. Good. I'm not imagining it and losing my mind. He flashes the flashlight but only sees an earthworm. Huh. He's had enough and runs back in. I continue to enlarge the hole while my ipod continues to churn away. As life often works it, another string of lyrics gently reminds me of my way...

More than just blind ambition

More than just simple greed

More than just a finish line

Must feed this burning need

In the long run...

From first to last

The peak is never passed

Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes

In this case, the light that fired in my eyes happended to be the bioluminescence from the gardner's best friend - the earthworm.