Michigan Forest Life - June 26, 2026

Fireflies!

3:00 am. A dark night alive with blinking lights.

The night is still. Silent. Cool. Slightly damp. 

Unexpected fireflies!

A special treat filling the meadow in front of the Treehouse. Though they make no sound, there is a musical quality about them. Each blinks on queue as a hidden conductor sweeps the baton and points to a new firefly – a brief solo standing out in its group. The second violins. The French horns. A silent symphony.

I step onto the Treehouse porch and wipe sleep from my eyes, wanting a look at the stars, to assess the night sky and return to bed. The night sky is hidden by clouds that increase the darkness. I find the stars blinking below me. Below the Treehouse -- a few feet off the ground. They make me smile. 

Who does not find joy in fireflies...

Oddly, the fireflies bring a wonderful, dreamy, three-dimensional feel to my place in the world -- to my place in the universe.  I suddenly feel suspended, with brilliant stars blinking below and stars that I know are above, blocked from sight by a curtain of clouds. I am just a silent point in space. A star. A firefly. I feel small -- infinitely small. It is magical. 

I want to stay. Breathe the cool air. Feel like a particle in the air I breathe. Watch the firefly world around me. Zoom out. Become tiny. I feel suspended, a point amongst the white pine branches. A firefly. A star.

I smile and return to bed.

Life is magical in the forest.

I wish you a firefly night. Be a point of light -- a speck in the universe. Surrender to nature. Become part of the music -- this night's silent symphony.

Until next time,

Dan