October 17, 2009

Thy power throughout the universe displayed . . .

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? If not, you're missing out.

I was 23 the first time I saw them. It was November 5, 2001. Kyle and I had been dating for a couple of months and it was the first night he ever told me that he loved me. (insert "awwww" here)

He dropped me off at my apartment that night and was knocking at my door an hour later. As I looked out the window to see who it was, I half wondered if he had come to take it back. But instead, he had walked down from his house to make sure I didn't miss them. They were amazing. It was a memorable night.

I hadn't seen them again until last night. We're floor parents for Muffit 4 at Spring Arbor University and we had them out for a hayride. As the ride began, I saw two blurry streaks in the sky. I kept trying to focus and was thinking to myself, "Maybe I need to have my eyes checked. That's so weird." But then Kyle made a comment about them too. We couldn't figure out what they were. Maybe a cloud being lit by a really bright star?

About half-way through the hayride, Chuck stopped the tractor, looked back at us and said, "Are those the Northern Lights?" By then, they were all around (which is weird, because they're usually in one general area of the sky). They were still faint, but they continued to get brighter as the ride went on. It honestly looked like something out of a sci-fi movie . . . we all joked about an alien invasion.

I sat there in the straw, with Jack in my lap and Kyle next to me and just took it all in. I was in total awe of creation, and moreso, the Creator. I had planned to go back outside later when the boys were both in bed to see if I could get some pictures, but I got distracted and totally forgot.

I searched online for some photos to share. This one is amazing. I think they're farther north, so the lights are a little brighter than they were down here.

Edited to add: The link is about the lights last night, but the photo at that link is NOT from last night's lights. I thought it was, but I was wrong. It still gives you the general idea . . .

3 comments:

ann said...

Wow. Amazing. I don't think we can see the Aurora Borealis from Kansas. I'm a little jealous -- and homesick. But, God is good. Thanks for the post.

farlane said...

Yeah, I looked for some but despite the fact that tons of people reported seeing them, none seem to have uploaded photos!

Thanks for linking over to Michigan in Pictures.

alex said...

i love the northern lights. We used to get them all the time in saskatchewan. i guess i took them for granted. I think I've only seen them once or twice in michigan