Mrs. Braun's Last Cookie Brought from the source, by sister Marylee, the essence of shortbread, sweet and crumbly Brought to the Arctic, to Tromsøya, in Norway, the last batch of cookies, baked far far away Brought on the chase of Aurora_Borealis, and munched and savored, until I had just but one Brought to offer to Odin, Norse god of the Sky, the creator and caster of the NordLeese I crumbled the last morsel, it fell into the lake, that taste of heaven had left earth forever Then came a faint, but certain green line, it rolled down from the sky, then back up Dafjord We cast atoms thither and photons flow back, bathing us in echoes from whence we all came. Note 1: Offering, Praying or casting spells, these we do for our own inner lives. Madness to think the gods or laws of physics care one whit. But to acknowledge our own humble selves. Note 2: Derek Braun has been making the cookies for years now and they are those same cookies. These were the last baked while Olive yet breathed. Marylee offered a sacred Acorn from Dodoni. They were good luck on Tuesday Night, 2014.02.11 in Dafjord on Ringvassøya, to the North of Kvaløya Pa Norsk: Nordlys, Northern Lights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tromsøya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Borealis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carta_marina http://www.amalie-hotell.no/en/
Virtual Tromso lots of Nordlys links.
Satellite Europe for trying to drive to open sky. AuroraForecast Good if you are on wifi. data hog. City Maps To Go Pro Great Map! Offline!! Wiki Offline for the curious! QuickDictOffline Translation |
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On Tuesday evening, we drove to Dåfjord and cast our offerings to Odin into the fjord. As we did a faint green stipe rolled across the sky. On the way back, in Dåfjordelva, Marylee said "pull over", since we were a little road in the middle of nowhere, I just stopped. We waited for about 10 minutes and then the green stripes came back and then more and then a white & red patch right above us and more green stripes. There was a slight cloud cover, but, that only obscured parts of it. I had not figured out the correct settings for the camera, so, I gave up after a a few seconds - favoring the experiencing self over the remembering self. It turns out some of the attempts did work out.
On Wednesday we went up to the valley along Kattfjordvatnet and stood out in the cold for a few hours. Off over the ocean there was a subtle stripe that seemed like clouds. Marylee encouraged me to take a picture to make sure. With the digital camera, the Nordlys get brighter and green, whereas clouds do not get much brighter and stay gray. Anyway, the subtle stripe over the ocean was an Aurora. So, we decided to move towards the light. Run to the light. As we were driving along Fjordvegen, Marylee called out to pull over when it was safe. There, over the ridge was a bright strong green stripe, brighter than we had seen Tuesday. Whoosh, splash and gone. Clear it was that night. And Thursday. And Friday, but, the activity level had dropped down to ZERO. See the yellow and blue chart above. Flatline for Feb 13 & 14.
On Saturday we drove to Kilpisjärvi, Finland, lots of activity, but, totally overcast. Dinner that night included reindeer, which stretched my adventurousness. Perhaps just too much driving in the snow. On Sunday we drove back and took a left at Nordkjosbotn and around to the south. We had a fabulous meal at Melanger Brygger and then one final little green flash on the way to the airport. As we got on the plane, I was having a tinge of regret that we did not of out the first Friday when we were dead tired, and if we were sick for the rest of the trip. . . BUT, as soon as out plane to Oslo got about the clouds, the Nordlys was there - big and bright, a fat green stripe from the horizon on the east to the horizon on the west. It was ahead of us - a bit to the south. Everyone on eht enplane got excited. Marylee and I had gotten window seat which we shared for a little bit, but, soon the excitement died down. But, there were still two people glued to the window. . . Guess who. We flew under the lights and slowly left them up north in the Arctic Circle as we slowly meandered down the length of Norway. Eventually the were gone. Here an What We Saw from a fun website
300 yards away see CREE flashlight Get pin for chip card. Needed all over. Ice on sidewalk when we got to town that receded. Not shoveling sidewalks. Heated sidewalks in some places. Not rubber padded. Ice everywhere. No stop signs. People do not leave much room for error in rotaries. Your safety is your responsibility. Arctic thing? Norwegian thing? Very little signage - even on big things and sometimes. Frozen blue waterfalls. Thursday vannoya Friday Ersfjordbotn little peninsula Polaria, lauklines Saturday lyngen Alps then Finland. Sunday malangen brygg last flash of nordlys. Spectacular nordlys from the plane!!! Modeling and visualization of nordlys Tundras.com in Kilpisjarvi Tromso Cheat Sheet - Pay for parking from 8-10 in middle of night