Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights is one of the most beautiful sights I've experienced in my short lifetime. Not only the lights themselves, but the atmosphere in which one can observe them. The first time I saw them was at Shuswap Lake (one of my favourite places in the world) out on the dock with the crickets, and the soft lapping of the water on the pebbles and larger rock surfaces (not a geologist, though I wish I knew some more rock names), with the lights of civilization across the lake. This lake is surrounded by green mountains, and above the rounded peak of the mountain opposite our little beach I could see some faint green ripples. It's like a mix of light and water.

The second, and last, time was just this Thanksgiving weekend in Smithers. This was easily more impressive than at Shuswap, and more memorable. Sitting in a hot tub with a few of my best friends in nearly freezing temperature. It was one of the most serene and peaceful moments of my life. Never before had I felt the majesty and beauty of God's creation so powerfully.

Here, I liked it so much, I wrote a poem:

A ripple of faint green
runs along the horizon,
and a ripple of frost
runs between my shoulders.

Hosts of birches,
tall, thin, and white,
frame the luminescence
and wave in return,
the cool night air giving life
to their long, bony fingers.