Aurora Technica

Aurora Technica

We prefer a pensive luster to a shallow brilliance.
-Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

The phones make the sky more dramatic than the eye. The top of the mountain, with the ample boreal views, was closed to the public. The park rangers allowed in a special group. A pack of Teslas, mumbling something about private parties. A polyglot grumble of disappointment and different refractions of anthropogenic light.

A constellation of phones, cameras, lanterns, fog diffused headlights. Giddy bubbling, off trail rustling. A baby deer bathed in white light. Finding its legs on the mountain road.

I parked my small open car. On a small bit of hydrological infrastructure. Began up the precarious, winding elevation. I held out my hand, so a neighbor could accompany me. Expensive vehicles passed. A modest car with blanketed south Asian boys. Gingerly asked if I was a murderer. Invited me into their warm synthetic cabin. Bathed in blue fluorescence. The parking lot was a tailgate. The occasion recommended darkness. Quiet.

I took refuge in my remaining senses. Closing my eyes and feeling the streams of conversations. Pockets of warm air. Pauses from human light and noise. Moments of excited youthful laughter. A distinctly Northern aurora technica.