Equinox Concert
Janet Kuypers
2/19/24
After finishing our only, unpaid concert there, as I
sang songs live at Ivory Jack’s in Fairbanks, Alaska
(and thanks for your phenomenal, unrehearsed guitar),
we regretted it being our last night in town, staying at a
hotel with 18’ window sills holding all that insulation,
plugging cars into outlets because it was just that cold out.
It was a Friday night, it was near the autumnal equinox
(because that’s when we heard the Aurora Borealis
was at its best). We also learned that 1:30 a.m. was
the best time to see them on these late September days,
so, this gives us a little time at the bar after the concert
before we re-apply our extra insulation layers, gloves,
scarf, headband, hat. Then: drive away from civilization,
for the farther away we go, the better we know it will be.
We stopped the car... somewhere, got out, leaned back,
all while not knowing which way to look, waiting for
we knew not what. But... once we spotted the Aurora
Borealis starting, we watched it flit and dance across
the sky. I cannot remember if it was windy with a hat,
headband and scarf over my ears... but at that moment
this night sky was as quiet as a painting, with a moving
masterpiece that you can’t help but watch, it intoxicates
you, hypnotizes you, holds your gaze like you’re a slave
to its every whim. For these fleeting, freezing moments,
you’re trapped— and there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.
A local said that he’d move away from Alaska
once he stopped loving seeing the Aurora Borealis.
I don’t care if it’s cold. I know exactly what he means
|
