Stars like dust
Posted: Saturday, 03 November 2007 |
There is nothing like an Orcadian night to make me feel very small indeed.
Helping Hazel (actually, I stood and watched while she welded and ground the bits) making the new cleats for "Dave" our new little steel boat, I stepped outside into the thick inky blackness of the night. Faint jingling told me that somewhere out there was a Pete probably hunting out something yuckky to eat, but other than this, and the muffled swearing coming from the GP shed, the night was only punctuated by the distant pop of fireworks.
Glancing upward the breathtaking sight of a million million stars stared back at me. Scattered as if dust on the infinite velvet of space I cannot help but stop and stare. A father who is an amateur astronomer has always made me curious in what is up there and a telescope allowed me to venture into outer space whenever the skies were cloudless.
Despite all this, there is one thing that scares the living poo out of me, and funnily enough it is the aurora. I remember being woken from the warm folds of sleep by my dad when i was around 6 years old to be shown the lights in the sky. Now for a 6 year old who;s brain was full of stories of aliens, this really did not do a lot for me. Amazingly enough he did it again about 4 years later with much the same effect - me sobbing uncontrollably under the duvet and sleeping with the light on for months afterwards. Somehow this fear still remains and last winter the sky remained devoid of the merry dancers, so I am yet to confront this one.
If you think that is a weird fear, other things which give me the overwhelming compulsion to go and hide are: thunder, spiders and polystyrene. I never said i was normal did i?
Helping Hazel (actually, I stood and watched while she welded and ground the bits) making the new cleats for "Dave" our new little steel boat, I stepped outside into the thick inky blackness of the night. Faint jingling told me that somewhere out there was a Pete probably hunting out something yuckky to eat, but other than this, and the muffled swearing coming from the GP shed, the night was only punctuated by the distant pop of fireworks.
Glancing upward the breathtaking sight of a million million stars stared back at me. Scattered as if dust on the infinite velvet of space I cannot help but stop and stare. A father who is an amateur astronomer has always made me curious in what is up there and a telescope allowed me to venture into outer space whenever the skies were cloudless.
Despite all this, there is one thing that scares the living poo out of me, and funnily enough it is the aurora. I remember being woken from the warm folds of sleep by my dad when i was around 6 years old to be shown the lights in the sky. Now for a 6 year old who;s brain was full of stories of aliens, this really did not do a lot for me. Amazingly enough he did it again about 4 years later with much the same effect - me sobbing uncontrollably under the duvet and sleeping with the light on for months afterwards. Somehow this fear still remains and last winter the sky remained devoid of the merry dancers, so I am yet to confront this one.
If you think that is a weird fear, other things which give me the overwhelming compulsion to go and hide are: thunder, spiders and polystyrene. I never said i was normal did i?
Comments
Try to overcome your phobia, deckhand (I know that is easier said than done) you are missing one of the truly awesome sights of nature. I can stand and watch the aurora for hours, in fact we have been known to drive out to Yesnaby on a good night just to escape the light pollution and to get the full effect.
Hyper-Borean from A galactic spiral
One of the best places to be under an aurora is at Yesnaby. Away from the security blanket of buildings and the rooted solidity of town, the infinite celestial walls and ceiling of moving light make you doubt your rootedness to the ground.
Flying Cat from lead boots
I love Yesnaby, but have never been up there in the dark....maybe i will ask Hazel to take me one day :o) It still gives me the willies though!
H from Holm
you are afriad of the AURORA ?? that must be the only thing i'mp not scared off!! i am a b****y coward with everyday things in life but that NO!!!! its so good to see etc
carol from the usual place
I tink da best wan I saa wis cummin hom on da boat as a student, wan November
Nanuk o' da Nort from Shetland
After coming to Orkney in May 2006 for 8 months, somehow I am still here. Running the MV Valkyrie in the summer and helping on the farm in winter is now my life. 
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