Tales of the beautiful everyday from the North
The road back
Everyone has always said in some way or another, that when you make your love your work, everything changes.
It is not easy for me to remember back to about 18 months ago. It was a time when I didn’t want to even go to see the aurora. Yet the aurora has represented the strongest love in my life for almost 15 years.
A few weeks after this government locked down, I went to see the aurora, to see if I could find any internal peace, to just take my mind away from constant worry, anxiety and frustration in every moment.
But I couldn’t even do that.
Every moment for that couple hours was just a reminder of everything I was losing. The aurora became a representation of my vulnerability, my loss, my heartbreak, my loneliness both as a business and as a person, a representation of how in the blink of an eye, I could have everything taken away. The pure love, peace and wonder it had represented, the dream it had given me, for over a decade before, all of it, was gone.
Insecurity - if it is deep within ourself, our relationships, our financial picture, or food supply, has to be one of the most horrific feelings we can experience. But to lose such a love, in some ways, I am sure it is worse.
The aurora never lost her beauty. I had stopped seeing it in her.
Perhaps it’s just that time soothes everything
This night is not the first night I’ve been back under the aurora. It may be the first night I have been back with the aurora and felt overwhelmingly a sense of wonder, of freedom, of peace even, and genuine thrill.
Nothing is materially better now than then, but internally, it feels as though something has shifted. It’s almost as if I’ve reunited, or at least walked the first steps of reuniting, with my first love.
Getting back to nature
It had barely been half a week since I was last out on this trail. I had expected many of the trees now had their leaves on the forest floor. In the days which had passed, we had a lot of wind, and sometimes even just a few still days this far north can create a dramatic change in how nature is looking during the fall.
But I just wanted to get back into the heart of nature like this so badly.
My night before had been a very, very late one out with the aurora, and I could have slept all day. But I awoke on just a couple hours of sleep feeling so much energy to go back out into nature… to feel the cool air, smell the sweet forest, hear the rushing water and find a certain stillness. Perhaps a lot of this will look very familar for you, but I couldn’t help but to go back so soon. It felt like the perfect place for the day. There are many snowy, darker days for sleeping coming soon.
“I would just want to hang out there all day and cleanse my soul.”
These beautiful words came from a close friend after I described my previous day out here, and right in the moment of reading them, I just knew I had to come back and soak up every moment that I could.
Tunnel vision
I had become, you could say obsessed, with wishing I could watch every leaf fall from it’s branch, or feel every cool breeze on my face, find every angle where the sun came through the trees to cast long, warm shadows. Truly I didn’t want to leave.
Running into the night
Just grab a hold of my hand
I will lead you through this wonderland
I dare you to close your eyes
And see all the colours in disguise
"Everybody knows that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. What few people realise, it is only through the parts that the whole gets delivered."
I know these nights of leaving the car off, of feeling such high humidity on my skin, of smelling such overwhelming sweetness from nature and hearing only the fish jumping, and loons and owls singing, will be over so soon. I can already hear in my mind the dry crunch of the snow under my boots and the ice singing in the countryside alongside the idle of my car, but right now I’m obsessed with every last drop of moisture in the air and these rare, but beautiful clear nights.
A forest full of berries & feeling grateful
It seems so cheesy to say, but I wish you can feel how peaceful it is to sit back against some of these boulders which have been here for billions of years, and be feeling the reindeer moss in your fingers. I think it’s impossible to know how amazing that can be until you are there, and when you really find this slow and conscious space.
"I think that eating berries every day during the winter can help to stay strong and healthy"
Sure it is great to have some wild berries for the winter, I am really excited for that. But to take these hours in the crisp autumn air, seeking out quiet marshes for these crowberries and cranberries.. I just love that too. I wish these days could continue forever.
From a forgetful moment
Some kilometres out from town, I had only then realized I forgot my berry picker. I had a momentary thought of if I should go back for it, but decided that no, it was alright and better just to continue on for the further out countryside and breathtaking colours as far as you could see.
I am sure I have never seen the countryside look so beautiful with colour before, ever. Not only was all the yellow still hanging from the birches, but reds and oranges like I haven’t seen here before also. After every corner, I couldn’t believe how it became more beautiful. Just kilometre after kilometre for all 46 of them.
Through the midafternoon, even sunshine broke this typical October cloud which we are experiencing in abundance these days. The air, while crisp, was completely devoid of any wind. Something so perfect for a slow coffee and snack out on a rock surrounded by flowing water.
What a great day in nature from just forgetting something so small right at the front door. The timing was unquestionably perfect.
