Firefly symphony

There were thousands.  By the time I got my camera and returned to the spot, the chorus had already peaked and the flies were higher in the trees, drifting towards the moon.   If you could see them blinking, you'd notice distinctive rhythmic patterns exhibited by different groups, and the patterns were performed in exact unison with each other-- it really felt like witnessing a mysterious sacred concert, and we were surrounded in it.  My dad, an entomologist, says this dirt road is one of the best and most active firefly spots he's ever seen, and that the planned development for this area should make efforts at reducing light pollution and maintaining as much of an undisturbed buffer as possible -- or this will be lost.

(end of Penobscot Street, Orono, Maine)