The Northern Lights

This route to Washington Sate sure looked shorter on the map, and I thought we’d get to Washington State today, but it looks like it’ll be another day or two or three. The closer we get, the more anxious I am to get back to real life and the normalcy of cities, choices of stores, etc. Even Ian said last night he’s tiring of the rural living and ready to see a real city.

The night before last, which at the time I thought would be our last night in British Columbia, was spectacular. No, Ian didn’t find a Viagra stash. We decided to dry camp for the night, so eventually found the perfect turn-off that led back a bit into the woods just before Cotton Lake. We got the Montana set up, and then walked around with Mac a bit to see our surroundings. There was evidence of a bear population, so we decided we’d better not leave Mac out alone like we usually do in such places. We also came across a tarpaulin covering a long, not too high stack of something. I told Ian he should check it out – it could be a dead body. He said no, you check it out. Consequently, it never got checked. Hopefully, if there’s a dead body under that tarpaulin, the next people to stop there will be braver than we were!

We had a simple dinner of quesadillas, then Ian watched a movie on the computer while I read my book. It’s really good, and so unusual. It’s titled Out, and takes place just outside Tokyo. It’s about four female friends who work at a boxed lunch factory on the night shift. One of them gets tired of her husband’s abuse, so strangles him to death with his belt, then solicits her other three friends to help her dispose of the body. (Hmm, maybe they dropped it in British Columbia, near Cotton Lake?). Anyway, they chop it up into little pieces, bag the pieces, then scatter them all over the town and areas surrounding it. One of the women, though, wasn’t trustworthy, and the whole thing started unraveling. At that point, I thought I knew what would happen, but the book has taken an unexpected turn, so it’s a page turner. I wish reading in the car didn’t make my eyes so tired.

When we went to bed, I left the shades on our bedroom window up so I could see the sky. I was hoping for a repeat of the wonderful star show I had a couple nights before. Eventually, I woke up and checked the sky. From the bed I could see lots of bright starts, although not quite as impressive as before. However, on the left side of the window was what appeared to be a large, parallelogram-shaped cloud, with wispy edges. Another one was next to it, but a smidge further down in the sky. What in the world is that? I wondered. So, I got out of bed and pressed my nose against the window to get a view of most of the sky. What an amazing sight! An off-white spectacle of lights (kind of looking like screeching clouds) streaked across the sky in a wide band. On the horizon were several splashes of white, looking like fireworks just starting off.

“Wow, Ian, come look at the sky!” I couldn’t let him miss this, no matter how much he likes his sleep. So, with a moan and a groan, he pulled himself over to the window, took a look, and joined me with another “Wow!” and then said, I think that’s the Northern Lights!”

That’s all I needed to push me out into the night, so we pulled on our jackets, Ian grabbed the flashlight, and we hurried out, followed by Mac. I can only imagine what Mac was thinking with us seeming to be in a hurry to get outside in the dark in the middle of the night. He wasn’t going to be left behind, though.

We stood with our eyes to the sky, marveling at the sight. From horizon to horizon, covering the entire width of the sky like a rainbow, were wide streaks of off white, sometimes with light tinges of green and blue. Along the entire horizon, sporadically placed, were more of the explosions like sparklers or fireworks, of varying sizes and brightness. Being in an undeveloped area, with no city lights to detract from its brilliance, the lights lit up the sky with an archway of magnificence and wonderment. Ian had seen the Northern Lights in Montana many years ago, and it’s the one thing I had not gotten to see in Alaska. I had even said the only thing that would make me make the long trip to Alaska again would be to see the Northern Lights. And, here they were, right before me, being handed to me for my pleasure and appreciation. God is so good, isn’t He? As impressive as it was, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to witness the Lights when they were in vivid Technicolor.

“What’s that?” Ian said suddenly, bringing me out of my revelry.

“What do you mean? It’s the Northern Lights – you said so!” I said. Don’t tell me you were only kidding, I thought.

“No, there in the woods. Look at those eyes.” Ian had been sporadically shining the flashlight into the woods just to let any critters know that we were there, humans much bigger and smarter than they, so don’t mess with us.

I followed the beam of light and saw two bright orange circles facing us. It was so dark in the trees, we couldn’t make out what kind of animal they belonged to, whether it was small and standing up, or large and laying down, or crouching, ready to pounce. Either way, it broke the spell we had been under and we high-tailed it back into the trailer, Mac following right behind us. Now I’m sure he was really wondering what was going on.

Once inside, Ian went back to bed, but I was transfixed at the bedroom window for another 10 minutes or so, watching the white light move gently across the sky, fading in and out of brilliance, slowly changing shape. It finally started to fade, so I decided to watch the retreat from bed. When I could no longer see the shapes and shades of white, I rolled over, said a prayer of thanks, and fell asleep.

The next morning, it seemed surreal, talking about seeing the Northern Lights. It still seems like, did we really? It seems too good to be true. But, there can be no other explanation, and at least now we don’t need to think about ever making this long trek again. We’ve done it all, seen it all.

Oh, I almost forgot. When I was crawling into bed, I muttered to myself, “Wow, now we’ve seen it all. There’s nothing we didn’t see up here.”

Ian, who was supposed to be asleep, but always keeps an ear open, said, “Yes there is.”

“What?” I asked. I couldn’t think of anything left.

“Hooters.” Pure Ian.