The Northern Lights!!!
Last Thursday a message pinged through from my partner while I was curled up upstairs, half-brainstorming ideas for upcoming posts, half-contemplating just calling it a night. ‘10:30 pm on a Thursday… I should probably be asleep.’
“Look outside!!!”
I stumbled down to the window on the stair landing, expecting maybe it was the moon looking as majestic as ever but mostly just checking out of curiosity…. and then, there they were. The Northern Lights. Swirling, shifting, glowing green and purple like something out of a dream. This was the second time this week they’d danced across our skies, but the last time I’d only seen them in the photographs that my partner had taken because I was settling our daughter to bed.
We’d already had a full moonrise earlier that evening, the kind that stops you in your tracks. We stood in our guest room with our daughter, looking out the window at it creep over the horizon, golden and huge, pointing and gasping like we’d never seen the moon before. And now, just a few hours later, the sky had another surprise for us.
I’ve seen the aurora from our doorstep a few times now, but it still stops me in my tracks. That feeling never fades. Just a couple of years ago, the idea of witnessing the Northern Lights felt as far-fetched as winning the lottery. Back in Central Scotland, we’d get the odd false alarm or news headlines telling us the lights might be visible, only for them to be swallowed by light pollution or completely hidden behind a blanket of clouds.
Downstairs, my partner was already at the door, holding out his housecoat for me. “C’mon, let’s go outside!”
I shoved my arms into the sleeves and put on my sliders then stepped onto the cold concrete, instantly regretting the bare feet inside the sliders combo. It was absolutely baltic. It felt like minus four, but honestly I didn’t care as I jumped up and down, grinning. “Aw, this is amazing… I love seeing this in my back garden!”
We stood there, just taking it all in between the freezing wind biting our faces, the moon full and glowing and of course - the sky alive with colour. Living here still catches me off guard. The way the sea air smells different, the way the light shifts throughout the day, the way nature just exists around us, completely unbothered. And then, on nights like this, it’s like the island taps me on the shoulder and says…
Hey, you actually live here now. This is your life.
Eventually, the cold won. We grabbed some juice, climbed back into bed, and warmed up under the blankets, still giddy from what we’d just seen.
Some nights feel ordinary. Some nights, you get the Northern Lights.
Safe to say, nature did the brainstorming for me in the end, and this post was born.
Til Next Time | Lesley-Anne
