March 11, 2008

Lovely

I was sleeping on the plane, my head leaning to the left against the window frame, when I woke to the feel of the large girl beside me leaning into me. I thought it was my imagination until I felt her do it three more times. I finally opened my eyes to see her straining to look out my window.

"The pilot said you can see northern lights out there. Do you see any?"

I looked. In front of the plane was a huge display of green shafts of glowing light splashed across the sky. The light grew and shifted and receded, sometimes shining in streaks and sometimes in waves. Soon the entire sky was full of the glowing, green light.

I marveled at the sight and thrilled that I was getting such an unhindered view of the lights from my window. There's something quite magical about northern lights. The best ones I ever saw were when I was eleven, visiting my cousins in Alaska. Gorgeous. Northern lights make me so happy.

As the plane descended through the layer of clouds above the city we were landing in, the northern lights were hidden from view. It was strange to know the sky was hiding such an awesome display of nature's beauty.

I was sad I only had the stranger beside me to share the magical experience with.

15 comments:

Cele said...

You have been tagged to play...

Life in six words or less...

Here's how this one works:
1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play. (This last step is optional.)

Angie K. Millgate said...

SML~

I have never seen the NL and now, after reading this, I hope I do get to before I die. I am curious about the last line of your post... I felt sad reading it.

Angie

Maddie said...

Ooo! I've never seen the Northern Lights (outside of photos), but it's on my list!

I felt that same way the first time I went to Hawaii...there are a bunch of pictures of me sight seeing by myself.

Cele said...

I have never seen the northern lights. And every time they say they will be visiable this far south it is raining in Oregon. Imagine that! Someday, because I know they will make my heart sing in the joy and splendor of mother nature.

Nayana Anthony said...

One of the great things of living in Minnesota is our ability to see the Northern Lights, especially if you can get out of the city. There's not really anything you can compare them to. For anyone who has not seen them, I highly encourage a trip up north.

Anonymous said...

I have yet to see the Northern Lights.

I started reading "The Golden Compass" yesterday, and that image you described is a prominent theme, so far.

**sigh**

I was surrounded by 2000 people in DC this past week, but I felt incredibly alone. I so relate to your post.

SuccessWarrior said...

I don't know if I've seen them. That had to be great to above the clouds and have such a great view.

Angie K. Millgate said...

Hey, Sid!

Thanks for presencing that awareness about "Compass" and the lights. I am reading that too and hadn't made the obvious correlation.

~Angie

Anonymous said...

As north as I've been, I've never seen the Northern Lights, but I'd love to. Sounds amazing.

Sid, sorry you were lonely. I hear ya. You shoulda held hands with Pompy the whole time.

Don said...

Noway Sid! I'm re-reading The Golden Compass as well, now that I've finally got the entire series.

With how amazing the northern lights look in photographs, I can't imagine what they look like in person. And seeing them from an airplane? How cool is that?

from the ashes said...

Very cool. I've never seen them.

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. One of these days...

What a cool experience. Question: where were you flying to that resulted in this experience?

Matt said...

I've never seen them. Hope to. This is my desktop image. Jupiter has 'm too.

SML, I've missed you. :) Sorry I disappeared.

Matt- (aka: mel)

Anonymous said...

The Northern Lights are spectacular and one of the best places to see them is in the Ely, MN area in northern part of the state. Stunning scenery and the sky watching is fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Hello SML,

The NL are beautiful. I have seen them in Alaska and the North West Territories. I have only seen the green lights, never the red. It is amazing how it takes over the sky and I could stand there for hours watching them.

circus watcher