3Bear

The night of Saint Patty's last year was not spent cross-eyed drunk on green swill during a pub crawl - even though that wouldn't have been a bad way to go. Instead, I found some after hours nirvana under the stars watching the most intense display of northern lights I have seen in the lower peninsula. This was captured from the mouth of Otter Creek looking out over the ice floes of Platte Bay and Empire Bluff. There were many times when the lights were brighter but without question this was the highlight of a night chock-full of magical moments. Three spires gradually appeared out of the apron differentiating themselves in size and brightness over the South Manitou Island. Having been interested in Native American mythology and aware of the legend of the Sleeping Bear Dunes their appearance was not lost on me. They were visible for a couple of minutes and just as slowly as they appeared, faded back into the overall glow of the curtain. After they were gone I found myself standing slack-jawed on the shore filled with a euphoric sense of awe - a feeling that I have seldom experienced other than when I was a boy. A feeling at that moment I hoped would last well beyond the lights themselves.

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