Leigh Ann Henion welcomes the darkness. The journalist and author makes that clear in her book “Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens and Other Marvels the Dark.”
The book documents her many encounters that can only happen in the night, the darker the better. For most of us, the stories may be better to read than to live. Henion would like that to change.
“When you watch salamanders reacting to artificial light and you watch moths beating themselves against a lightbulb, it helped me understand,” Henion shared during a conversation prior to her visit to Buffalo on Thursday, June 11. Put together by the Western New York Land Conservancy, the event runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church.
“Over time, they really helped me observe that I’m also an animal.”
Light pollution, Henion asserts, not only hurts wild animals, but it’s also an obstacle to the natural world.
“It’s blocking our view of the cosmos. There are a lot of places on this planet where people do not have access to stars anymore.”
Henion’s work brings romance to dark spaces, putting a metaphorical spotlight on the wondrous activity that can only happen without light.
“Turn out the lights,” Henion encourages.
“Take inventory of the lights that you use in your life. Take inventory of the lights around you. And reconsider your relationship with darkness.”
