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| Tuesday, September 16, 2003 |
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Glacier racing 
| | On the left, the sunset over Juneau, from the top of the Mt. Roberts tram. On the right, a view at sunrise from the cabin deck this morning, from the mouth of Glacier Bay. |
| | Between the two, at 3am, my sister woke me up and told me to go outside on the cabin deck. It was cold, but worth the trip. Waving strips of greenish-gray light rippled across the sky, lined up along the Northern Cross and the Milky Way. They looked like cirrus clouds at play. It was the aurora borealis: northern lights. It wasn't the most spectacular aurora in the world, I'm sure, but it was the first one worthy of the name that I'd ever seen from the ground. The only other times I had seen auroras were once in New Jersey when I was a kid, and it was barely visible, and once from a window seat on a redeye between redeye and Europe. |
| | Right now the aurora activity level is 9 (out of 10), which is very high. |
| | It's unusually clear here. Not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for glacier-watching. Almost unbelievable, considering the generally gray weather here. "First time this year," a crew member just said to somebody nearby. |
| | Still, I'll continue working on my keynote while some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth ease by at 20 knots. Behind me downstairs a bunch of folks are singing "Roll out the Barrel." Before that it was "The Wanderer," originally by Dion and the Belmonts. Before that, Sinatra's "Fly me to the Moon." Now it's "I won't Dance," by one of the Gershwins, I forget which. While icebergs float by. Go refigure. |
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