The Northern Lights

Yesterday morning I woke up with a missed call from a teacher named Dan. Dan is the special education teacher at my school and I consider him a good friend. He was one of the first teachers that I really got to know here. He's one of the people I talk to the most at school and can always bounce ideas off of. If I'm having problems with a student, I can always send them to Dan's room, if needed. Outside of school, Dan has also been a great person to know. He took me fishing on my second week here. Afterwards, he taught me how to fillet a fish (unfortunately they weren't fish that I caught).

 When I first saw the missed call from Dan, I thought I had overslept and he was trying to get a hold of me. I checked my clock twice, before I listened to the message.

"Patrick, get up! The Northern Lights are out. You're gonna wanna see this. Seeya later." Dan said, with a sort of southern twang to his voice.

I got out of bed and swung open the curtain on my bedroom window. I looked out and saw a green glare from the north. I crooked my neck as far as it would go to the right, but I couldn't see enough. I got dressed as quickly as possible and went out to the boardwalk.

I have a new winter parka that I ordered online that makes me look like I'm wearing football shoulder pads underneath. I grabbed it on my way out, and I'm glad I did. It was 10 degrees outside, but only my glove-less hands were cold. I tucked my hands in the coat's oversized pockets, walked around my house, and looked to the sky. The Northern Lights were right there. A hazy green sky was overhead with orbs of light dancing in-between it all. I can't even describe how amazing it looked.

 It was one of those brief moments that I will always remember. Certain images are just getting stuck in my head up here. I like to think of them as Alaska images. When I leave here, whenever that is, I will always have these brief moments to draw back on. Similar to my fearful experience with the bush pilot chugging a Mountain Dew in swirling winds, I now have this moment:

Just me, standing alone, in the freezing cold, in complete silence, staring up at the sky.

 I moved to Alaska for several reasons. I'd be lying if I said, seeing the Northern Lights was one of them. But it was a moment that made me glad that I'm living where I am. That moment, frozen in time (pun intended) made me think that I made the right decision. It made me proud of where I live.