Nature Wonders and Yummy Fun

Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night I always look outside.  Even for a brief moment I look at the sky to see the stars (I guess I also look around to make sure everything is as it should be - this is what Brian's night shifts have done to me ;o).  I've always loved looking at the night sky and have used Orion's Belt to situate myself - I used to see it out from my driveway back home in Rockland, from my bathroom window in my house in Selkirk, and now I see it out my back window here in Coral.  Well last night I saw much more than stars, I saw the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis.  Much more than I was expecting!  While I'm sure they can be far brighter, I was awed and stepped outside in the middle of the night in my housecoat to get a better look.  I'd seen pictures before but, as often is the case, they don't do the lights justice.  Pictures don't show you how they jump and dance across the sky.  Or how the intensity of the light changes at different points along the ribbon stretching across the sky.  I look forward to seeing them again. I also witnessed part of the eclipse last night.  That's something we don't see everyday either!

This morning I witnessed something else for the first time.  The moonset.  I saw a HUGE yellowish moon set down below the horizon painting the sky with beautiful colours - like a sunset but much softer.  The colours were light:  blue, purple, pink and they stood out against the white horizon.  I tried to take pictures but once again, not the same.

Today is the shortest day of this year. I'm glad that it's nice and sunny.  The sun rises and sets "on the same side" (as opposed to crossing the sky like it does in the South).  It follows the horizon.  Very different and striking.

Hali, the other RCMP wife organized a gingerbread house decorating activity for the kids.  There I met 2 teachers and their kids (both of which hope to return to NS someday!).  It was a lot of fun and is helping me wrap my mind around the fact that Christmas is only 4 days away.   OOOOHHHHHH!  BTW our turkey came in the "mail" today!!!  So we will have a traditional Christmas dinner after all.  That also means that we will be heading back to the store to stock up on FRESH food.  

I'm off to helping my boys with a Christmas craft that my mom sent.  Thanks grand-maman.  We are going to have so much fun this afternoon.