Late one night while staying at the lakeside campground by the town of Czar, I decided to take a quick skinny dip in the lake before bedtime. Attempting to dodge the swarms of mosquitoes, I must have been so hasty I failed to look up into the sky. A few minutes later I hear Lina shouting excitedly “Aurora Borealis! Aurora Borealis!!” We all gathered on the lakeside, me half-naked wrapped in my camping towel, and stared up in silent awe as it changed shape and brightness and color before our eyes. What a gift on one of my last nights with the walkers! And the mosquitoes were happy, too. (Above photo is from Google Images but is very close to what we witnessed.)

Jon offered us this poem.

Northern Lights

We have seen Aurora Borealis
On a warm mosquito bitten night
Casually acknowledging the sacred gift
Small talking in the face of God

We have seen Aurora Borealis
Revealing His and Her curtains of light
Appearing and disappearing silently without a plan
Dancing for poor and rich alike

We have seen Aurora Borealis
In the North where survival is an art
Where antagonists must be friends
Where distances are days apart

We have seen Aurora Borealis
We climbed the mountain; we have been Mecca
Our dreams and voices anointed, our callings blessed
The world will change

Jon R. Biemer
July 2013
Dedicated to the Compassionate Earth Walkers