There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
Robert W. Service
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Oh My.. Oh My..
In the Autumn of 1952, my High School English Teacher, Mrs. Joyce Cowan assigned as homework, the reading The Cremation of Sam McGee. She gave us copies of the poem.
I have to be honest, in general, all of the boys did NOT like Mrs. Cowan because she took her English Class very seriously.
After her class was over, I went to my 10am Hall Patrol Post, on the second floor, on the North side of the High School and began to read the above Robert Service poem.
IF only I could go back in time to 1952, I would go up to Mrs. Cowan and thank her for changing my life forever.
On the spot, as I began to read the above poem, I became addicted to reading Robert Service Poems and I wanted to go some day up to the Canadian Yukon Territory and visit Dawson City where Robert Service lived and wrote his poetry during the early years of his life.
Just in case you are interested, below is a Wikipedia link about him.
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NORTHERN LIGHTS..
We are getting a lot of Northern Lights activity, not only up here in Alaska, but also in the lower 48 states as well!
Tim, in all of my years living in Alaska, never ever one time have I been able to successfully photograph the Northern Lights.
How about you Gullible?
By The Way, in the poem my name "Cap" is mentioned.
"He turned to me, and Cap says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."
Cap, Patti and Tim McBride
It was an interesting evening along the Bay. Thought to myself, hope that I should be successful on catching the Northern Lights on film. There was some others in and out of the park along the Bay. Sitting in the dark with the quiet peaceful evening. I was getting frustrated of the people just wandering around and driving through of course with their headlights on. I would flash my headlights on and off at them to hopefully get them to shut the lights off.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Northern lights started I sent a quick couple of pictures to my brother. He called about 5 minutes later… I had to cut him off because I for sure did not want to miss the show. I have been trying to for years to get the Northern lights on film. As it happened I was given a great show that evening for 45 minutes at that point between 9:45 and 10:30 pm. As it turned out the Northern lights appeared again between 1 and 2 am.
As I was fortunate to see such a show… I will never forget the day and evening of October 10, 2024 being the night I finally got the Northern Lights on film.
Lucky and grateful for the light show. 🍀☕️😎🙏🏼💜
Tim, in all of my life, I have never been able to capture the Northern Lights on film. What you did was absolutely amazing. What a "Light Show" you put together. Lucky and grateful says it all. One issue up in the Alaskan interior in Manley Hot Springs was the weather. At 40 up to 60 degrees below zero, you can't stay out too long. But even in warmer temperatures, I could NOT capture them. Thanks so very much for your comment and sharing them with our followers Tim. Cap and Patti too..
DeleteYou can convert those slides yourself at a reasonable cost. I sent you an email about s angers to accomplish that.
ReplyDeleteScanners, Stupid spell check.
DeleteThanks for the offer Gullible but I haven't even got many (90% maybe) of my negatives. I love it, stupid "spell check" I know and I understand. Cap
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