Tango with Aurora (Ligo Haibun Challenge)

At long last, the cupola is open.

Seven small windows provide my only view from the International Space Station to Earth – from office to home.  Seven small windows link me to everyone I’ve ever known.

I’ve begun to miss many things about my solid, distant Earth home – not just the people.

Most of all I miss the natural rhythm of sunlight and moonlight. I miss waking to soft sunlight at dawn.  I miss knowing that the sun is overhead – overhead! – at noon.  I miss the sun’s setting in a fury of gold and red. I miss the pre-dawn gleam of cold iris snow.  I miss the moon’s waxing and waning – waking and sleeping.

I miss … I miss … I miss.

Earth has a glorious natural cycle of sunlight – lengthening and shortening – coming and going.  On Earth, sunlight cycles like waves crashing over the beach and then falling back to the depths of the sea. In space there is no cycle: there is only bright man-made light.

we are time’s creatures /
listening for the ticking /
of Earth’s beating heart /

Even in the Arctic Circle – where it is the deepest part of winter – there is a cycle. People grieve for the sunlight, but they square their shoulders and vow to muscle their way towards spring – because winter does not last forever. They find strength they’d forgotten:  once again this shall pass.

And then I see it– the aurora borealis – through my seven windows.

In the Arctic, families are standing in the cold winter night and gazing overhead.  Their mouths open in wonder – their eyes smile – and the aurora shimmers above them in rippling streams of vivid green.

They gaze from below; I gaze from above.  We are connected.

The scientist in me knows that the aurora is an intricate dance between the sun and the Earth. There are solar winds and magnetic fields, charged particles and radiation belts. But … the Earthling in me hears the goddess Aurora’s high clear voice … and sees her robes ripping across the sky.

with a grand flourish /
the green lady is dancing /
in the winter night //

Aurora Borealis via International Space Station. NASA

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Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis

The aurora borealis is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas.  The Cree people called it the Dance of the Spirits.

Wikipedia says that Frederick Edwin Church’s painting, Aurora Borealis, represents the conflict of the American Civil War. Confederate troops saw it in Virginia during the Battle of Fredericksburg and interpreted it as a sign from God – of Confederate victory – because the aurora is rarely seen as far south as Virginia.  [On a side note – if you ever have an opportunity to see an exhibition of Frederick Church’s paintings drop everything and go to the exhibit! Forget Thomas Kinkade – Frederick Church is THE “painter of light”.  Print and online exhibits never do his work justice.  But I may have said this already … sorry ….]

Frederick Edwin Church. Aurora Borealis, 1865. Wikipedia.

Bulfinch’s Mythology claimed that the “aurora borealis” or “northern lights” were made by Valkyior, “warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with helmets and spears. /…/ when they ride forth on their errand, their armour sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies…”

In the southern hemisphere, auroras are referred to as the aurora australis.  Aboriginal people in Australia associate it with fire and with messages from the gods or the spirits:

“The Gunditjmara people of western Victoria called aurorae “Puae buae”, meaning “ashes”, while the Gunai people of eastern Victoria perceived aurorae as bush fires in the spirit world. [The] Dieri people of South Australia said that an auroral display was “Kootchee”, an evil spirit creating a large fire. Similarly, the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia referred to aurorae seen over Kangaroo Island as the campfires of spirits in the ‘Land of the Dead’. Aboriginal people in southwest Queensland believed the aurorae to be the fires of the “Oola Pikka”, ghostly spirits who spoke to the people through aurorae. Sacred law forbade anyone except male elders from watching or interpreting the messages of ancestors they believed were transmitted through aurorae.”

Aurora Borealis via International Space Station. Pinterest.

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The Milky Way, Stars, and Aurora Borealis

This video was incredible and I had to share it!  It was created by the Crew Earth Observations team at Johnson Space Center from images on board the International Space Station.  Here is the official description:

“This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 30 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken January 23, 2012 from 08:01:56 to 08:16:08 GMT, on a pass from the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Mexico, to the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Newfoundland. This video focuses on the stars over the Caribbean Sea, the eastern United States, and southeastern Canada. The Milky Way can be faintly seen throughout the star field as the ISS travels northeast over the Caribbean Sea and towards the southeastern United States. As the ISS continues northeast, lightning flashes can be seen over the southeastern United States before flying over Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City. The pass ends over southeastern Quebec and the New Brunswick area”. 

On a different note, I was wondering how being in space affected a human’s circadian rhythms.  It turns out that people on the International Space Station are wondering the same thing!  A Google search revealed that it is the subject of an on-board experiment; results have not been released online yet.

Tango to Evora – Loreena McKennitt

I chose this particular piece of music – “Tango to Evora” by Loreena McKennitt – because it makes me see dancing ribbons of light – even if it is set far, far away from either the northern or southern lights.

Weekly Līgo Haibun Challenge

This piece is written for the Weekly Līgo Haibun Challenge.  Our prompts were the aurora borealis / northern lights or 24 hours of darkness. Typically Līgo Haibun does not include images or music … but … after the many wonderful music prompts at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai it felt right to add music to this piece of writing.  I hope Pirate will excuse me.   :) When I found this wonderful video of the aurora I decided to write from the distance of Earth’s orbit.  Why not?  I think it would be similar to writing about nature while wanting desperately to escape one’s house or a busy shopping mall. We’re Earthlings and Earth always calls to us.

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First image: seven-window cupola module of the International Space Station merged with image of the aurora borealis from space.  Both images: Wikipedia.

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