The Night Sky

Comparing the aesthetics of the night sky to daylight is like comparing Oreos and oatmeal raisin cookies. Sure they are both cookies, but one infinetly kicks ass. A couple weekends ago I went out to Wascana trails with my friends Mel, Jenna and Ali for some light recreation. Only a fifteen minute drive from Regina, you are out in nature but you are still ever conscious of the haze of the city. When I arrived, the night sky proceeded to enthuse me for the better part of three hours. It started out as a cloudless evening with an absentee moon so the stars were out in full effect. Stars are quite wonderful in their own right but when they start shooting around up there like a heated duel in an old spaghetti western, they take on a whole new level of awesomeness. If you watch the constellations long enough you get to see them move around in the night sky which is also pretty amazing. The North star will always stand triumphant but the big dipper who you can always count on to point you towards this beacon, will do summersaults in the Northern horizon if you keep one eye on it.
The stars hung out for a bit and then the clouds decided to roll in. Brightened from below, the daytime role of the clouds was reversed in the moonless night, as they reflected the collective glow of a million tiny lightbulbs rather than the powerful sun. The bustle of the city, canvassed across a sky of condensed water vapour.
Then my mind wanders for perhaps twenty minutes. I look up once again and the clouds are gone. I take another glance and I am greeted by my fellow Northerner, Aurora Borealis. From East to West she stretched across the Northern hemispher. Simply magnificient. Never have I seen a show such as this. Up, down, flash, subside, dance, inflame, fuck throw any verb or adjective in there and it would fit. Such an eerie green too. If there was a spirit world and this spirit world had a representative colour, it would be the green of the Northern lights. I don’t think I am doing a good job of explaining Aurora here but if you have seen it, you know what I am getting at, and if you have not seen it, get off your ass and get out of the city sometime this winter and you just might be lucky enough to gaze into the heart of a miracle.*

*sorry for the ICP reference but I had to.