Darkness and light

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My love of flashlights started when my kids were young. We were camping almost every month and taking multi week trips around the country during summer. Every night, the ritual was to walk around on the forest trails, turn over logs, peer into crevices, look into the trees. All with the desire to discover something strange, beautiful and hidden. We always found some bugs, bats, birds or animals scurrying around that we could not have seen during the daytime. I'll tell you though, that bear scared the shit out of me and my son in Yosemite one time. But other than that, my kids were not ever scared of the dark. We always had a flashlight in hand and a headlamp on the head.

A true perspective of this came when I invited a friend and his son for a weekend trip in the Sierra Nevada gold country near the town of Columbia. As was our family ritual, I outfitted them with lights and we hit the trail. Some noise in the bushes were heard, I assumed a deer or squirrel, but the father and son we brought were just not accustomed to being out in a forest at night. The other child was scared and could not be calmed with reassurances. We packed it up and went back to camp for s'mores.

Several years later, my son asked me to keep his room light on and I thought it was strange for him as he never asked before. I did, but I thought about what may be happening. I figured he was getting older, subject to more things, stories, and movies that may be present in his mind causing him to fear that unknown of the dark where the imagination, if left unchecked can run wild.

I got online and ordered my son and daughter their own nice flashlights. When they came in the mail, I sat them down and gave them the lights. I explained that I wanted them to have a light they can always use if the power goes out and they can keep them at their bedside, under the pillow or whatever. That night, my son and I played with his and my flashlight in his darkened room. I told him that if he is ever scared, he can take away the power of darkness with his light. To this day, my son always has his flashlight under his pillow. The light on phase quickly went away.

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I take a lot of pictures and found some of our flashlight play pictures from that time. Now I have a flashlight in every vehicle, backpack, nightstand and purse. This backs up that we have the tools and power to make darkness evaporate on command and at will.

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This pic is some of the flashlights we have.

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This is my favorite one I have with me in my travels.

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No1uno
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