Friday was warm enough to make me want to walk in the evening, though I’d had two good outings already that day. The sun was setting when I got back to Pearl’s, and instead of going in, I sat on the deck and let the gentle breeze blow on me.
Black clouds lay in a thick bank along the horizon, and a wisp of crescent of moon rose in the sky. Gradually the clouds grew and spread upward to fill the space, and the moon was covered up, then revealed again… finally the darkness conquered.
That was the night that the train of solar flares was creating an unusual display of Northern Lights, but for our household it was a night of thunderstorms, and everyone went to bed early, still trying to catch up from our intense week.
On Saturday Philosopher became the center of attention again, when he graduated from Marquette University and we all attended the ceremony and had a family dinner afterward. My son-in-law Nate started talking about going up in his airplane to see what we could see, on the second night of the colorful phenomenon that was reportedly, possibly, continuing.
Maggie and I voted to make the effort, and were thankful that her father was willing to go ahead with the trip, even though the scientific model of the event he was looking at online began to show an unpromising outlook.
We drove to the local airport just before dark, where Maggie helped to tow their plane out of the hangar and Nate went through his thorough pre-flight check. That airport’s control tower shuts down at 9:00 p.m., and we seemed to be the only ones around.
Soon we were airborne, Maggie in front with her dad and me in a seat not far behind. For pilot communications Nate joined a local network of pilots in the area, until we got in range of larger airport controllers. We all had our headsets to block out the engine noise and to make it possible to hear one another, and I was surprised to be able to hear the other pilots, too, talking about altitude and speed and bearings, and even sharing whether any sightings of the auora borealis had been reported yet that night. The word was that soon we’d be able to see those lights.
We never did see any colors up there, even though we flew nearly to the Canadian border. We did notice unusual lights, and brightness along the horizon. And lots of stars, and that dearly beloved moon. It was a wonderful excursion, our sort of scientific expedition, and we got to bed very late that night, which had by then become the morning of Mother’s Day.
It was another quiet day, for several reasons, not least of which was, it was my final day there. There was a picnic on the lawn, made by the children, and in the evening my daughter and I took one last walk in a different neighborhood (one picture from that at top); then Maggie suggested watching the 2020 film of “Little Women,” which none of us had ever seen. I haven’t even read the book of Little Women since I was ten years old.
We liked it very well, except that we thought Laura Dern was miscast as Marmee, and not the sort of mother we would want to have when going through trials. Still, it was a fun movie to see on Mother’s Day, and I kept thinking how I would love to have a few of their dresses in my closet.
I’ve been working on this last post of my trip adventures since early this morning, and while waiting at airports, and even on the plane. I guess I have finally figured out how to compose blog posts on my phone, and I’m glad to be able to travel without lugging my laptop along. Now I’m home and finishing up on my PC.
In honor of all you mothers and children of mothers, a belated Happy Mother’s Day! For your inspiration, here’s a shot of those geese and goslings I left behind in Wisconsin.
Gladsome Lights 