Dancing Lights

Today could have been better, for an easy teaching day schedule-wise I would not call it much of a success. Students were antsy, teacher was not feeling her best, algebra was seeming more difficult than usual, half my students were at the airport rather than class...sigh. Both teacher and student are counting the days if not hours till the glorious period of peace that is March break. Best part of the day was an evening call from my sister, just chatting and catching up on news, commiserating on our equally lousy days. Feeling restless, I try to settle down for night. Then I remembered that I had read something in the news about more solar flares which usually means bright northern lights. After checking the weather site, cloudy, and peaking out the window, stars, I figured a walk just to make sure couldn't hurt.

As I began walking around town I could see a faint glimmer of a ribbon beginning to stretch above the town. Not very promising but lights, or not, I figured a walk might help me sleep. The northern lights shimmered in a thin ribbon over the town, nothing spectacular but enough to make you smile. Just as I was turning towards home the ribbon seemed to coil in on itself and began to dance. I climbed the nearest snowbank and settled in to watch the show. Hovering above town the lights danced and swirled, at times looking like a rainbow piano keys tumbling. Light green, yellow and the faintest hint of pink lit the sky. It seemed as if the lights were dancing only for me. Snow machines buzzed by from time to time, an odd pedestrian crunched past, but no one seemed to notice or care about the strange teacher perched on a mountain of snow, smiling like an idiot as my scarf frosted over.

As I sat atop my mountain of snow, watching the northern lights, I reminded myself that this was one of the things I love about living in the north. I love the fact that it is possible to walk out my front door and see the Northern Lights. And after a crappy day there can be still something to make you smile and remember why you came up north to teach in the first place. The only thing I could have wished to have tonight was my camera, but the memory in my mind will have to do. The feeling of the snow, the wind, cold, and the light dancing just for me.