Light
In many places, the night is not truly dark.
I can't say that I've ever experienced a truly dark night. There have been times that were close, but there was always a hint of light on the horizon, testament to some distant city or town that shunned the darkness.
Even here, the night is not completely dark, though it is darker than the majority of places I have been.
Tonight I was driving home from work, enjoying a peaceful ride down Trier road. Homes flank either side of the road, but they are set back a ways, and their windows were mostly dark given the late hour. Streetlights are far and few between. Quite suddenly, I noticed a small flash of light on the side of the road.
The first firefly of the season! The first to my eyes, at least.
That single firefly seemed to herald more - many more. Softly they twinkled to either side of the road, lending the trip an almost ethereal quality. They led me home.
Once home, I took a few minutes to settle in, then walked to the back door and looked outside.
I have never seen so many fireflies in one location in my entire life.
Our home backs up to a common area which is kept mowed, although there are a few patches of grass and greenery that have been left to grow wild for unknown reasons. There is also a sizable band of overgrowth that I once thought sheltered a creek, though I've never seen any water in that area even after a deluge of near-biblical proportions. This wild area seems to be their breeding ground.
The entire area quite literally glints as though scattered with dewdrops hit by sunlight. It almost seems unreal, something that you would see in an idealistic movie and think "That doesn't exist."
It does, and it's right outside my window.
I can't say that I've ever experienced a truly dark night. There have been times that were close, but there was always a hint of light on the horizon, testament to some distant city or town that shunned the darkness.
Even here, the night is not completely dark, though it is darker than the majority of places I have been.
Tonight I was driving home from work, enjoying a peaceful ride down Trier road. Homes flank either side of the road, but they are set back a ways, and their windows were mostly dark given the late hour. Streetlights are far and few between. Quite suddenly, I noticed a small flash of light on the side of the road.
The first firefly of the season! The first to my eyes, at least.
That single firefly seemed to herald more - many more. Softly they twinkled to either side of the road, lending the trip an almost ethereal quality. They led me home.
Once home, I took a few minutes to settle in, then walked to the back door and looked outside.
I have never seen so many fireflies in one location in my entire life.
Our home backs up to a common area which is kept mowed, although there are a few patches of grass and greenery that have been left to grow wild for unknown reasons. There is also a sizable band of overgrowth that I once thought sheltered a creek, though I've never seen any water in that area even after a deluge of near-biblical proportions. This wild area seems to be their breeding ground.
The entire area quite literally glints as though scattered with dewdrops hit by sunlight. It almost seems unreal, something that you would see in an idealistic movie and think "That doesn't exist."
It does, and it's right outside my window.