We spent last weekend in Yukon with Greg and Cara. This was a long overdue trip to celebrate Greg’s successful completion of his PhD. The pandemic, followed by the North’s caution about opening up after Covid, followed by life in general, sidetracked us from this trip. Finally, this year, we committed to making it happen. The big dream was to stand under the big Yukon night sky and take in the glory of the Northern Lights. I’ve seen them before when we lived on our acreage. But there was something drawing us to try to witness them in their homeland.
Alas, it was not to be.
The Northern Lights were, in fact, very active all weekend. We, in fact, were poised to see them. We stayed at a place called Inn on the Lake, about halfway between Whitehorse and Carcross, in the middle of the sparsely populated lake community of Marsh Lake. There is no light pollution there. The location of the Inn provided the perfect viewing spot. Everything was perfectly orchestrated for success. Except for Mother Nature. She must be feeling the unease of the rest of the world, for she has blanketed the Yukon and Alaska with uncharacteristic cloud for almost two weeks.
There were moments in each day when bits of blue sky would peak through. We’d have a couple of phones active, tracking not only the solar flares that indicate strong Northern Lights, but also cloud cover, possibility of rain, and temperature, so hopeful for a glimpse of the spectacular Lights. We had all the gadgets at our disposal. One night, it looked like there was going to be a brief window of possibility around 3:00am. We set alarms in each of our suites and Greg and I met outside to check out the sky. Sure enough, there was a break in the clouds. But the almost full moon was so bright, there was no chance for the dancing Lights to shine down.
I was disappointed that my image of us seeing the Northern Lights, first right from the car on our drive from the airport to the Inn, and then each following night at the inn, was not realized; the beauty of those lights was, after all, the main focus of our trip.
Beauty is not always found exactly where we are looking. Beauty does not always look the way we expect it to. True beauty does not always align with our imagination’s ideas. And our expectations are often realized in ways we never expect.
So it was for us last weekend.
We had a most wonderful time in Yukon. Jim and I had a brief glimpse of this magnificent place in June when we were there for a few short days for my bike race. Greg and Cara have never been. Yukon isn’t glamourous in the commercial sense of the word. The restaurants are not, for the most part, gourmet. The lodgings are comfortable, but not like those found in a fancy resort. The people dress in clothes designed to move and work, not designed for fashion shows.
Yet Yukon holds a beauty not found in many places. We found its beauty. Not in the night sky, not under the colours of the Northern Lights, but in every other place we looked. We found beauty in the early mornings, looking over the calm waters of Marsh Lake. We found beauty as we played a game of three-person crib, as six tundra swans, first appearing as a bright white line, soared close to the waters’ surface toward the shore. Then later that morning as two foxes played together on the shore. There was beauty in the incredible fall leaves, still hanging on the trees on the drive along the Alaska Highway to Skagway, and in the spectacular mountain vistas along the way. We literally gasped at the beauty of two large black bears, looking completely at home in their vast backyard.
This weekend we celebrate Thanksgiving. You may or may not recall that there isn’t much I love more than a beautiful clean countertop. This weekend I’ll be expanding my view of beauty. I suspect I’ll find it among the piled up dirty dishes, reminding me how lucky we are to have the beauty of our family around us. I’ll find it in the exuberance of two little boys as they try to contain their energy at such an exciting family get together. I’ll find it in laughter and perhaps even in tears. How lucky are we to have a home where both are welcome.
Last weekend I expected to find myself standing under the night sky marvelling at the Northern Lights. I did find myself under the night sky. At three o’clock on Saturday morning when Greg and I met outside to check the sky, we stood there together for a few minutes. The magnificent moon shone brightly, obscuring any hope for our viewing of the Northern Lights. But it was still magical, standing there with my son in the silence of the land.
That’s a little moment of beauty I’ll treasure forever.
My inquiry for you is, ‘Where is the beauty?’
Elizabeth is a certified professional Leadership Coach, and the owner of Critchley Coaching. She is the founder and president of the Canadian charity, RDL Building Hope Society. She works with corporations, non-profits and the public sector, providing leadership coaching. She creates and facilitates custom workshops for all sizes of groups and has expertise in facilitating Strategic Plans for organizations. Contact Elizabeth to learn how to find out how notice beauty.
Alas, it was not to be.
The Northern Lights were, in fact, very active all weekend. We, in fact, were poised to see them. We stayed at a place called Inn on the Lake, about halfway between Whitehorse and Carcross, in the middle of the sparsely populated lake community of Marsh Lake. There is no light pollution there. The location of the Inn provided the perfect viewing spot. Everything was perfectly orchestrated for success. Except for Mother Nature. She must be feeling the unease of the rest of the world, for she has blanketed the Yukon and Alaska with uncharacteristic cloud for almost two weeks.
There were moments in each day when bits of blue sky would peak through. We’d have a couple of phones active, tracking not only the solar flares that indicate strong Northern Lights, but also cloud cover, possibility of rain, and temperature, so hopeful for a glimpse of the spectacular Lights. We had all the gadgets at our disposal. One night, it looked like there was going to be a brief window of possibility around 3:00am. We set alarms in each of our suites and Greg and I met outside to check out the sky. Sure enough, there was a break in the clouds. But the almost full moon was so bright, there was no chance for the dancing Lights to shine down.
I was disappointed that my image of us seeing the Northern Lights, first right from the car on our drive from the airport to the Inn, and then each following night at the inn, was not realized; the beauty of those lights was, after all, the main focus of our trip.
Beauty is not always found exactly where we are looking. Beauty does not always look the way we expect it to. True beauty does not always align with our imagination’s ideas. And our expectations are often realized in ways we never expect.
So it was for us last weekend.
We had a most wonderful time in Yukon. Jim and I had a brief glimpse of this magnificent place in June when we were there for a few short days for my bike race. Greg and Cara have never been. Yukon isn’t glamourous in the commercial sense of the word. The restaurants are not, for the most part, gourmet. The lodgings are comfortable, but not like those found in a fancy resort. The people dress in clothes designed to move and work, not designed for fashion shows.
Yet Yukon holds a beauty not found in many places. We found its beauty. Not in the night sky, not under the colours of the Northern Lights, but in every other place we looked. We found beauty in the early mornings, looking over the calm waters of Marsh Lake. We found beauty as we played a game of three-person crib, as six tundra swans, first appearing as a bright white line, soared close to the waters’ surface toward the shore. Then later that morning as two foxes played together on the shore. There was beauty in the incredible fall leaves, still hanging on the trees on the drive along the Alaska Highway to Skagway, and in the spectacular mountain vistas along the way. We literally gasped at the beauty of two large black bears, looking completely at home in their vast backyard.
This weekend we celebrate Thanksgiving. You may or may not recall that there isn’t much I love more than a beautiful clean countertop. This weekend I’ll be expanding my view of beauty. I suspect I’ll find it among the piled up dirty dishes, reminding me how lucky we are to have the beauty of our family around us. I’ll find it in the exuberance of two little boys as they try to contain their energy at such an exciting family get together. I’ll find it in laughter and perhaps even in tears. How lucky are we to have a home where both are welcome.
Last weekend I expected to find myself standing under the night sky marvelling at the Northern Lights. I did find myself under the night sky. At three o’clock on Saturday morning when Greg and I met outside to check the sky, we stood there together for a few minutes. The magnificent moon shone brightly, obscuring any hope for our viewing of the Northern Lights. But it was still magical, standing there with my son in the silence of the land.
That’s a little moment of beauty I’ll treasure forever.
My inquiry for you is, ‘Where is the beauty?’
Elizabeth is a certified professional Leadership Coach, and the owner of Critchley Coaching. She is the founder and president of the Canadian charity, RDL Building Hope Society. She works with corporations, non-profits and the public sector, providing leadership coaching. She creates and facilitates custom workshops for all sizes of groups and has expertise in facilitating Strategic Plans for organizations. Contact Elizabeth to learn how to find out how notice beauty.
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