Thursday, July 4, 2013

Aurora Borealis

Have you ever done a road trip at night? If not, maybe you should. Some of my most memorable drives have been overnight trips. And this weekend past long weekend was one of them.

We got a much later start than any of us wanted on Friday. There was just too much to get done before leaving for Saskatoon. We had all been up since early and there was no doubt that this would be a hard overnighter for all of us. We entertained the thought of pulling over somewhere and catching a few Z's on the side of the road, but we were going to haul ass as far as we could before giving in.

It must have been about 1am that I noticed the northern lights. I was exhausted, but I don't sleep well at the best of times and in a moving vehicle it's nearly impossible for me to sleep. So I leaned against the window and watched the sky tell me a story through pictures of light.

At about 2am our fearless driver called it a night. We were just outside of a small place called Unity at this time. It was a more or less empty highway on the prairies. We all got out for a few minutes to stare up at the sky. None of us had ever seen the Northern Lights take up so much of the sky before. I stayed outside as everyone else went back in to sleep.

I laid on the back of the truck and watched the lights dance and flow through the night sky. It was a performance that could not be matched by man. Lights dancing to the song of the crickets and frogs. The mournful howl of a coyote every now and again. It was something incredible to experience.

2 comments:

  1. I love aurora Borealis. It's such a treat to have been able to see it a few times as far south as we live. And no matter how many times you see it, it is fairly magical.

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    1. It definitely is. One of these days I want to see it up north in all its glory.

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