Aurora Borealis

The sky was alive.  Pale and green it swirled and danced before a velvet curtain dotted with stars.  There was something magical and fearful about this being above me.   All was quiet and yet a festival of lights projected on the clear winter expanse in a way so supremely powerful that it commanded the sky and the attention of all below.  This moment wasn’t planned, it wasn’t intended and yet it will be fixed forever in my memory.   The cold air cocooned around me as my chin tilted up.  I was awe of what was above me and couldn’t catch my breath, it seemed as though the northern lights had taken it hostage.    A victim to its beauty, I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry.  Perhaps someone unknown to the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, or the immensity of the ocean would have the same visceral first reaction.   I have been searching for the prairie counterpart to the ocean and mountains, and I believe I found it last night.    

It is interesting how beauty often is close behind the disasters in life, big or small.  If you look hard enough there is beauty in all situations life demands us to walk through.    The most epic mistakes or challenges humble us.  With a new perspective from our knees we know we can’t fall any further and are forced to look up.  Maybe that beauty is a gentle nudge and a reminder that our mishaps and frustrations can be made beautiful.