Awe

It's late. Very late. I confess I was grumbling a bit about doing chores at 1 a.m. But, I had gotten home late from a seminar, & Mark had been working all evening on putting up new light fixtures in the kitchen. So, it was out to feed the goats and dog before turning in.

As I headed into the barn, I noticed that there was a glow behind the mountain ridge. After traipsing back and forth with water buckets, I could see that the glow had risen higher in the sky...and that's when the show began.


I joined Mark up behind the house, and from there you are literally standing in a mountain bowl. You know that feeling of being in a planetarium, where there's nothing obstructing your view of the sky from any angle? That's what it's like here...crane your neck and turn three-hundred and sixty degrees, and there's nothing to see but snow-covered mountain peaks reaching up into the deep black sky scattered with a brilliant array of stars, like diamonds strewn extravagantly over black velvet.


From behind the ridge of mountains to the north, the green gauze lifted and swayed, growing brighter and rippling faster by the moment. And suddenly, a shimmering carpet runner of reds, pinks, green, and white shook across the sky, prancing to the east and then skipping back to the west, like a banner waving back and forth across the sky. The reds grew in intensity as they glimmered back and forth, faded to pinks, and then began again. And as suddenly as the dance began, it was over. The pale green gauze settled over the sky once again, like a curtain being drawn after the final act.


Typically around here, the northern lights are greens, whites, and yellows. Only once before have I witnessed a show of red northern lights, though it wasn't nearly as dramatic as this display tonight. The last time we saw red northern lights was while in Alakanuk, and it caused quite a stir...the Yup'ik elders say that red northern lights mean war is coming. It seems like a long time ago, but I remember it clearly. It was September, 2001.