Night in Nigeria

You believe how bright it is in the night in Ife,

Our house is on the edge of the border of Ife pretty much, so we don't live in town proper, as they say. That means there isn't as much pollution where we are, and on a clear night when there's a full moon, it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. So, my father and I went outside to turn off our little blue generator.
    Like I've said before, N.E.P.A isn't stable. Well, technically, the real name for the electric company for Nigeria is P.H.C.N. Power Holder Company of Nigeria is what that stands for. But people still call it N.E.P.A.
    Anyway, we were outside, and I looked around. The moon was so bright, the shadows of the roof, trees, and myself were all very sharp and distinct. I would almost compare the brightness to the intensity of a strobe light. Every blade of grass was distinct. The only difference between this moonlight and daylight is that this light bleached almost all the colors out of everything. Since Nigeria's at the equator, the moon and the sun and moon are sometimes exactly in the middle of the sky. It was awesome. And even though the moon was so bright, I could still see stars much more clearly than I could in Durham, NC. I think I even saw Mars. My father told me that when he was little, he would bring out a chair into his yard, and talk with a friend or lay there and relax and look at the stars.
    There was also another beautiful event I shared with my father and my little sister who is 4 years younger than me. We were all looking up at the stars, when my father said, "look, look at the ground before the lights go out." I had no idea what he was talking about, so I looked at the ground, and saw, to my astonishment, a blur of complex flashing lights, blinking on and off. The only way I could describe how I felt was wow. It was really cool. The lights on the ground were fireflies. Well, that's enough for today...

Signing off,
The Traveler