“Here, give me your coat. Take this parka instead.” I was instructed by the woman who had introduced herself as Talia a few minutes ago, and who had decided in those few minutes that I needed a different coat than the one I was wearing. “I have a warm enough coat…” I resisted, I had bought that coat especially for the trip I was on. “I hate to say it hun’, Talia continued, “but that expensive-looking synthetic coat you bought from wherever in the “lower 48”, is not going to help you be outside today.” Talia stepped closer to me, her one hand outstretched ready to take my coat and her other hand holding a parka. I handed her my coat and took the parka from her.. “Thank you…oh my goodness”, I said shocked at the sudden warmth flooding my body from the parka, it felt like being wrapped in the world’s warmest hug! “You see??” Talia remarked gleefully, “you feel the difference when it’s real fur.” My jaw dropped, I was wearing real fur – for the first in my life, an animal had been killed to give me its warmth. Talia saw my expression and chuckled, “relax, you are in Alaska, in the middle of the winter, you gotta do as the Alaskans do.”
I turned towards Mark, he had also been helped – to his own fur coat – by Talia’s husband Zack. We were in Alaska; Fairbanks to be precise, in a house above the hilltop with barely any other lights around and with an unobstructed view of the sky. We had booked this night’s adventure months in advance; the night when we were hoping to see Aurora Borealis also known as The Northern Lights. We had already spent the previous two nights in Fairbanks; one doesn’t just plans to spend one night to watch the Northern Lights as there is no guarantee that one would see it on any particular night despite it being the dead of winter.
The Northern Lights occur when charged particles from the sun collide with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, exciting them and causing them to emit light. The intensity of the auroras depends on solar activity which increase the number of charged particles reaching Earth, creating more vibrant displays. The auroras are most visible near the magnetic poles which makes Fairbanks; a mere 200 miles south of the Arctic circle and just a 1000 miles south of North Pole, a perfect place to see the lights – that is – if you are lucky enough to have the right atmospheric conditions during your stay there. We had already met a few visitors who had left the city disappointed. We were hoping to be the lucky ones.
It was about 9:30pm when we had arrived at Zack and Talia’s home. There were 2 more couples besides us that evening. We had sat comfortably in the room they called their “sky lounge”; with floor to ceiling windows. We chatted with each other while enjoying our host’s home-made delicious Reindeer Sausage chowder – again, when in Alaska…!
And now having sufficiently rested, it was time to begin our outdoor adventure in -10 degree Fahrenheit. That is why we were given our parkas..
We stepped out of the house and were greeted by eight loud and excited huskies, barking and raving to go. Talia and Zack got to work, preparing two dog sleds, 4 dogs on each sled. Mark and I got in the sled with Zack, the 2nd couple got in with Talia, while the 3rd couple waited their turn in the house. “Hike” Zack ordered, and the dogs obeyed, moving so fast that our bodies lurched backward then forward, as the dogs made their way up and down the snowy hill. “Gee”, “Haw , “Easy” went Zack; simple commands that a musher gives his dogs to turn right, left or slow down. Huskies don’t like to slow down, huskies love the snow and the cold and the speed. So on we went, twisting and turning and sliding with the wind in our face. Parts of our route were so narrow that I gasped, scared the sled would slide down the hill but the musher and his huskies knew the hill like the back of their hands & paws. I must have lost track of time on the sled when Zack yelled to us in the back – LOOK UP. And there it was!
“”Whoa” said Zack and the dogs stopped. We were back outside his house, in the large open field on top of the hill with its solitary log cabin. I don’t know when I got out of the sled. All I know is I was looking up at the most radiant display of lights I had ever seen in my life. The Aurora Borealis danced across the night sky in a fiery spectacle, vibrant ribbons of green, pink, and violet swirling and flickering like celestial flames. Each wave of color pulsing with life, painting the heavens in a mesmerizing display that stretched across the horizon. It was a breathtaking fusion of light and motion, as if the stars themselves had come alive. We all stood there in pin-drop silence our faces turned upwards, spell-bound.
The silence was broken by the howling of the huskies. “Awoooo…!!!” they sung in unison, their song echoing through the crisp, cold air, their voices, carrying the ancient call of the wild across the snowy wilderness.
I couldn’t feel my face, fingers or toes, all the spots the parka didn’t cover, were freezing. It is said that when words fail, eyes weep, tears a far more ancient language than words. I felt the warmth of tears on my lashes and my cheeks. I remember saying to myself “this is the closest you will ever come to seeing God on earth.”
Then just as suddenly as the they had appeared Aurora vanished. It was as if the veil between this world and another had parted for a brief moment and we had got a glimpse of the beyond. Now the veil was back on and only its memory survived.
I have since learnt that there are hundreds if not thousands of myths, stories and names the indigenous people of the north have for the phenomena scientists call “Aurora Borealis”. I have given it my own personal name. I think that that freezing winter night under the big ol’ Alaskan sky with the huskies singing their ancient song, I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime “Gospel of Light”.
Swati Srivastava is an immigrant and a multi award-winning writer, director, and voiceover artist. A filmmaker & storyteller, Swati turns ideas into experience. She is also the Director of Visual Media for a national non-profit and an environmentalist. She can be reached via Linkedin and swati@TiredAndBeatup.com