Gorgeous Northern Lights

Just came back from Mexico, I called Charles, trying to visit him in Montreal. He told me that they had a group of friends going to a lake house owned by Phil's parents. And I could go, too.

"May I? But I don't know this Phil guy. You have to ask him first."I said.

Unexpectedly, later on Phil and I became friends. Years later he came to visit me in Taiwan. But that's another story.

The lake house was great!!! Five of us arrived first, spent a beautiful quiet Saturday afternoon, and waited for the other five friends to join us in the evening. We fished, boated, chatted, and, of course, had coffee.

Saturdy night, the others showed up like a storm. We started to set up for a barbecu and it became busy. Our ages ranged from the youngest, 22, to the oldest, 42. I was the only one who didn't speak French. The others were either Quebecuas, or like Wei-fun, who has learned some French. But good thing they knew that with me, they could only speak English.


That night, lucky us that we didn't set up a campfire. All suddenly there was a hailing coming from outside. I didn't understand French, but still I could tell that it was calling for us to come out.

We rushed out. The whole sky was blue, red, green, and yellow, like ocean waves changing and flashing. The beauty was out of the reach of any language. Ten of us were under the mirage sky, speechlessly, quietly and peacefully enjoying the feast that Mother Nature was giving us, thinking that how lucky we were. Montreal is in such a low latitude so the chance to see Northern lights here should be very slim. And particularly I, living in Ottawa, was even luckier to see it happen at a lake house owned by a friend's friend, which was one and a half of driving from Montreal downtown.

It lasted only about 20 minutes. But for us, it lasts forever. Everybody looked so heavy on the way back to the house, probabely thinking about if there is a next time to see it again.(Esepecailly me. I would be going back to Taiwan. At least they have gotten chances for most of them live in Quebec City, or in Montreal.)

Years later in Taiwan, I was driving Phil in my car and brought it up. We got all excited. "Thank you for letting me to join you in your cottage, although you didn't know me back then. You've got a great lake house. But what made it even more unforgettable was the Northern Lights, although it lasted only 20 mins."

He said, "You wouldn't believe it. That was my third time of seeing Northern Lights. And the first time in Montreal, such a low latitude. The first two times I saw them was in Quebec City, where I grew up."

So, now you know how lucky I was?