had a great day turning twenty-seven, first doing some welding and moving big rocks around on a unseasonably warm and sunny day. the evening started with drinks around a fire and gifts of literature, sexy artwork, liquor, and a pallet full of cookies. dinner was spectacular with flatbread pizza, steak, salad, and some wonderful side dish, followed by a scrumptious cake with a flaming cow, flaming cowboy and blazing unicorn. (YO GREG!) acrobatics, human totem pole, armwrestling, and lighting cigarettes on fully burning logs. then just before all crashed for the evening, the northern lights were spotted—-not the most intense color variations, but active. they bucked and swayed, surged and receded, flashed and faded as an awe-inspiring birthday fireworks extravaganza.
the morning brought bright blue skies, both clear and cool and i took a nap under a tree and in the warm sun, listening to the fast-running brook.
went for a walk after some coffee and again laid on an open hill watching the sky. a plane cut a straight thick white contrail across the flat blue sky, dissecting the sun and connecting wispy cloud banks on the northern and southern horizons in a sort of cloud bridge. it was a bold mark on a pristine canvas and i watched the bridge bleed into a wider more hazy line as it seemed to pull the cloud bank from the south right up to the northern bank. first it crossed the expanse and then closed it. maybe it’s a portent of my trip across the atlantic.
even if it’s no omen, what a great morning…