I'm not entirely sure which I would prefer, but you'd be safest to bet on the endless night.
And even during that harsh and brutally cold season, the Northern Lights dance, with enough luminance to make things normally hidden in the night suddenly visible due to the Boralis' unearthly glow.
I would love to see them again. I did once, as a child, off in the distance and faintly glowing, obscured for the most part by trees. Where we lived in Northern Washington didn't get the lights usually back then. Or if we did, it was sure to be after I was already tucked into bed, probably with a smuggled book and a flashlight.
But sun, moons, stars and dancing ribbons of light are not what I especially wanted to talk about.
Did you know that parts of our seas light up at night with a biolumination caused by a species of photoplankton that love to eat the algae that occurs with the dreaded red tide?
Deep sea creatures, feeding so low that sunlight does not reach here, have bioluminescent bodies. It isn't enough to make the ocean floor glow, but there are sparks of light gliding in the deeps.
Caves are often known to harbor bioluminescent algae and bacteria, which glows deeply underground, clinging to rocks where nothing else would normally thrive.
So what does any of this have to do with this week's Midnight Sun theme?
Everything really. You see, if you look hard enough you can usually find that there is light present- be it spiritual, mental or physical. No matter how dark things may seem at times (and we all certainly have our moments of despair and trials that we fear will overwhelm us). Especially in the darkest times keep looking, and you will find a light. Maybe its simply a small candle, flickering in the dark, and sometimes it is as large as the full moon, reflecting light to us from a sun we cannot see at the moment. You can find it burning in the hearts of our fellow brothers and sisters around the world, even if some choose to hide it away from the world.
And for the photo... I debated on sharing it or not. It's certainly not one of my best, as it was one of the first shots I captured when I went digital. Still, I do love its capture of light and how even the lesser moonlight can diffuse and illuminate the path before your feet on nights when your own light seems dimmest.
Keep looking even if right now you only see the dark. The light will be there.
