The Sky And I
Friday, December 5, 2008 As a kid, having grown up in the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, I never saw the aurora borealis until I was fifteen years old. I was leaving a high school theatre after a musical production with my parents. They were chattering away about something or other, and I moved over to stand by a chainlink fence where I considered letting my tongue freeze to its metal in a bid for something more interesting to happen. I looked up, because the sky was shining in a way that caught my eyes beyond the halogen parking lot lights.
All background noise dropped away behind me with what I saw up there, and I felt as though my eyes were filled with the alien brilliance of that sky. It spread clear and black above me with a crisp dash of stars, and through it all apple green light quavered, grew bright and faded, undulated in waves so shining that the skin on my hands reflected their colour. My father stood next to me after a while, and we watched the sky together.
"What is that?" I whispered. "What's happening?"
"Those are the northern lights," he said. He laughed. "You've never seen them?"
"No. I've only read about them."
"It's like you've never looked up at the sky before. They happen all the time."
I knew what he said was true. Everyone I knew had experienced them but me. There was a sentience about them. They were the biggest reaction I had ever seen. Dogs barked. Buffalo swayed. These lights danced.
They were as obvious as stars. It was as though I had never looked up before. The sky grew a new head, and my heart pounded. In my young yet weary chest, I knew that I did not know the world.
Reader Comments (13)
I felt awe and wonder when I saw them for the first time too. I kept missing them. One night my ex woke me up and drove me out to by the oil refinery to see them at like 2 am. It was awesome.
I felt that there was a sentience about them too. But hells, I'm a freak.
It is amazing what we can see if we just look around.
Even more amazing, when we actually remember to look, and find something new right in front of us.
o, man. From the time I was 4 until I was 11, we lived in Lynn Lake Manitoba which is way way WAY up north and I remember the Northerrn Lights being so blindingly bright, shifting spectrum, lava lamp nights of electric blue and green and violet, the light so bright it bounced off the iced over streets and snow banks, colouring them wild.
Now, here in Southern Ontario, far from the prairies, I miss them. If the Northern Lights appear here, they are much dimmed by the light pollution of the GTA.
The northern lights were awesome last night! They are so amazing!
I'll never forget the only time I've ever seen them. It very early in the morning on Boxing Day, I left the house to get a VERY early bus in order to get to work (a homeless shelter in Ottawa). And I COULD NOT BELIEVE what the sky looked like. So incredibly beautiful. And getting up to go to work on a holiday at like 5am was suddenly completely worth it...
On my list of things to do before I die. See the Northern Lights.
Darn that I live so far south!
God, I love the line about sticking your tongue to the fence.
Me too. I will see them before I die. I will also sing the National Anthem at a professional sporting event, and I will be on Jeopardy. Lofty, but true.
Schmutzie, sometimes I am so envious of you that it hurts... not just because you get to see the Northern lights, or because you are on leave from work, but because you are honest with yourself and you have learned to embrace who you are. Sometimes, my crazy is my best friend, but sometimes... it is STILL my worst enemy.
I just met some people who were here for a wedding in October. Before they left to go back home, they desperately wanted to see the northern lights and a gopher. They left disappointed.
I had a similar experience, in small-town Alberta, when I was 14. Late summer. I was riding my bike at night, lonely, looking for somebody to fall in love with, when I looked up. It was a pivotal moment for me, where the whole universe was focused on me, and me alone.
A lot of native people believe that the northern lights are your ancestors, now maybe my reserve has taken it a step further. They believe if you whistle during the northern lights you grab their attention and are disrespecting them. They then get closer and closer till they can grab you.
My dad used to always whistle during the northern lights to scare my blonde haired, blue eyed mom, and then he did it with his kids. He's a jerk like that, but it always seemed like they were getting closer.