At 11:30 last night, my teenage daughter called me from a friend's house and said she was sick, could I pick her up?  I dressed quickly and struggled to wake up enough to drive the 15 minutes to her friend's neighborhood.  Once she is in the car, she tells me how upset her stomach is and that she really, really didn't feel good. 

I don't know where you live, but here in the mountains, the full moon last night,looked close enough to touch.  She turned to me and said, "We should go to the lake and sit on one of the docks and look at the moon."  That was a dandy idea, but the thought of driving even further from the nice warm bed that was waiting for me was a deterrent.  When we got to the turn-off, she said, "You're going the wrong way."  It did sound like a cool idea (especially in Truckee at Midnight!!!) "No, I'm going to take the interstate to the lake."  She was thrilled. 

There are a number of public docks around Donner Lake, and  we picked one close to the northeast shore.  With the full moon, the rocks were illuminated, so we stepped carefully down to the dock.  She grabbed my hand and ran to the end and popped into a lotus position and exclaimed how beautiful the moon, Jupiter and their reflection were on the lake.  It was magical, huddled there together in our fleece watching the lake in all its peacefulness.

The moon's reflection was maybe 30-40' off the dock.  On the other side of the lake, there was a reflection close to the shoreline.  I thought it looked odd, but not really knowing anything about reflective angles, I just chalked it up to one more thing in our great big world that I didn't know about...  Not having said anything about this to my 15 year old, she pipes up, "I think that's bioluminescence."  "Really?  Where did you learn about that?"  "I've been in GATE mom, I'm trained to notice this kind of thing."  Our educational system scores an A+!  Then she added, "but I didn't think rainbow trout were bioluminescent."

As we watched, the "lights" came on and went off, sometimes many at a time and sometimes in almost waves.  There was one that was maybe 40-50' off the dock that seemed to be watching us and was visible most of the time we were there.  Sometimes the lake would go completely dark except for the moon and Jupiter's reflection in front of us. 

Then the "lights" came on again en masse and there was definite movement.  We were both in awe and anticipation as they moved toward us.  The leading edge of the "stream" was probably 75' away from us.  It stretched back almost across the lake.  I had no idea there were that many fish in Donner Lake.  I have lived here for over 20 years and have swam that end of the lake many times and only on a few occassions felt like I was being nudged by a fish. 

My daughter noticed a long, dark line in the water and said she thought it was a fish.  Again, I'm trying to figure light angles and what could be causing the effect.  At that point, the "bio" fish turned and started heading toward the other shore again.  Except the one that had been "watching" us.  As they got further away, the lights started going out again until there were only 3-4 and watcher.  Then the rest "went out", except for the one that had remained closest to the dock.  My daughter suggested it was time to go.  We got up and halfway across the dock, I looked back and the lake was now completely free of bioluminescence.  Seems even our watcher had decided it was time for lights out.

We got in the car and when I saw the time, half an hour had passed.  It had felt like 5 minutes.  What a magical event!  We had shared something that few would ever experience.  We both agreed that this was one of those times that we'd remember forever and would be telling children and grandchildren about for generations!  She went over the litany of events that lead us to that moment and was in wonder at how the world works.  My darling daughter, that is how the world works.  I've been told that it was Einstein who said, "There are two kinds of people in this world.  Ones who don't believe in miracles and those who believe everything is a miracle."  I hope you are one who always believes everything is a miracle!

***Give your teenager an extra hug today.  Spend some time outdoors with them.  You'd be surprised what you learn!  Take a midnight walk with them, they seem to be nocturnal!  Love them today, they'll be on their own soon enough!

Footnote:  My daughter felt better after our time at the dock.  I was wide awake and was safe to drive home.  I talked to my fellow agent and office fisherman and he told me that Donner Lake had rainbow and brown trout, macinaw and a carp type of fish that could get up to 24".  He said he'd experienced bioluminescence in salt water and sometimes it happened in fresh water, especially when fish were spawning, but he didn't think anything in the lake would be spawning at this time of year.

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