Butterfly Airplane

What do you call a gathering of butterflies? You call it a “flight,” or a “kaleidoscope,” or a “rabble,” or a “swarm,” or a “flutter.”

I like “flutter,” myself. I mean, think of what the sound of a thousand butterfly wings flapping (fluttering) sounds like. A flutter. So I prefer “flutter.”

However, “kaleidoscope” would be most appropriate for a flutter of butterflies I saw recently at McCarran Airport’s Terminal 3 in Las Vegas. Right there, where you take the escalator to the underground area where you catch the electric train to D Gates, is this large group of butterflies decorating the upper airspace near the ceiling.

 

It’s called “Mirare,” which means “to look at thoughtfully, to wonder at.” And the hanging artwork is made up of nearly 3,000 polyester butterflies suspended by fine stainless steel wires … almost 2,400 of them.

If you don’t watch out, they’ll make you late for your plane. You can spend quite a bit of time just examining each beautiful butterfly, then stepping back to get a picture of the flutter/kaleidoscope as a whole. Believe me, it gives the word “kaleidoscope” justice.