Saturday, June 9, 2012

Northern Lights, A Bucket List, and the Pull of Motion

As I waffle about dropping an immense amount of money on a trip to Iceland (because I am a maladapt incapable of spending a significant amount of time in one place) I am reminded of several things.

The first of which is this 'bucket list' concept.  I have wanted to travel Iceland for as long as I can remember.  The history, the mythology, the beauty, the nature of the beast that is nature, the nature of the beast that is me- these components combined in me even as a 'barely pre-teen' of 12ish to send me on a bender.  The desire to go to this distant yet so profoundly present place has been with me ever since.  I even considered, at one point, studying the Nordic colonization of Iceland.  In Iceland.

Then I realized I would have to learn several ancient languages and I am nothing if not lazy so that option went rapidly out the proverbial door.

The second thing of which I am reminded keeps the 'bucket list' alive.  The Northern Lights.  Oh God, I want to see them.  I keep thinking 'I must see them before I die'.  And who knows when that will be, especially considering my present condition.  So of course I am leaning more and more toward Iceland because I can see them there.  I can see them in their perfect, crepuscular presence.  I can experience these auric appearances.

And that's the kicker, to be honest.  The pull of motion for me is to run and run and run and experience, literally, everything I can.  I know that I hate China and don't exactly have the warm fuzzies for Louisiana.  I know that I love Australia, New Zealand, New England, France, Belgium and feel comfortably ambivalent when it comes to Germany.  And there is so much more.  So many cultures, so much LIFE, out there.

I cannot wait.

The third thing of which I am reminded is the the opening lines of a poem I wrote when I was in middle or high school:

We drove for hours last night
To see the Northern Lights. 

Until next time, my darlings.

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