friday pretties

It was November, 1999.

Living in Sitka, Alaska (a town of 9,000) whenever there were great things happening, the phone tree would start. Such was the case about 9:00 pm. "Check out the Northern Lights!" my friend said. We bundled up and ran outside. As the lights began dancing through the sky we knew this was something we didn't want to miss. So our family of 7 piled into the van and drove out to the end of the road where the sky was gigantic. We'd seen the Aurora Borealis before, but never like this. It caused the hair to stand up on the back of our necks and thrilled us so much that we hardly noticed the cold. As the lights danced (there is no other word to describe the motion) they'd change from green to purple, blue to an electrifying yellow, then back to flourescent green again. Breathing life into the sky, it was so magnificent that we laughed right out loud. Never had nature caused such involuntary excitement for me as this did.

(Aurora Borealis Photo: HickerPhoto.com)

Breaching Whale photo by my husband Brad Chapman

(Brad is a nature & wildlife lover [and expert] ... check out his blog for more amazing photos)

Still November 1999, the family joined Brad out on a wildlife site-seeing cruise. The whales must have caught the news that this was the month for nature to share the best: We watched, mesmerized, as a pod of whales put on the show of a lifetime. Between their frolicking, they gathered to bubble-net feed. We watched as they would swirl in perfect sync with each other, gradually rising until they reached the surface. Mouths wide open, they effortlessly lifted as their food filtered through the baleen filling their stomachs. What a day!

When I was thinking about what to post for Friday Pretties, I could think of nothing prettier than nature in November 1999.

Have a great weekend everyone!

oxoxoxox