The Belt and Beyond | August 13th, 2015

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28 Arctic Symphony ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT by Brian Potopowitz It was the time of endless night, dark, cold, and brutal. But then, it was always that way, wasn’t it? Oh, who could remember? There were vague flashes of a different sky, a different ground, and the cold replaced by the penetrating feeling of warmth. An icy wind blew the flickering memories away and they were replaced by the feeling of being too exposed in this open space. No bushes to screen, no trees to shield, and very far to go for cover yet the compulsion to be in this place at this time was very strong. The wind shifted and a new smell drifted down from above which triggered an image but the fight or flight instinct was not activated. It felt strange but at the same time it was right. The observer sat high above on an outcropping of rock concentrating on a small object in a large treeless field a short way down from his vantage point. After a time he allowed his gaze to retract for just a moment and refocus on the entire landscape about him. The field below surrendered at the edges to patches of evergreen trees that dotted the foothills and finally gave way to jagged mountain peaks all around. The left quarter of the ancient caldera had long crumbled away allowing a spectacular view of a large valley and more mountains in the distance. A thick layer of snow blanketed the ground and was only broken by the pine trees that meandered down to cover the valley below. Shifting his attention back to the clearing, he zoomed in and refocused his gaze back onto the object he had been watching for some time now. Not many would have noticed it there as it was very small and blended in with the snow quite well. The moonlight cast a shadow and the outline triggered an image but the basic instinct to hunt was not activated. It felt strange but at that moment it was right and in a burst of speed he was fluid and moving quickly down the hillside toward the treeless area below. In no time the observer was at the edge of the clearing still within the protection of the shadows of the trees. From his vantage point he could clearly see the arctic hare sitting in the middle of that empty space. He became aware of his tongue licking his nose and the smell was not right but it did not matter as he moved forward. Sensing movement the hare turned his head slightly to the left to see the pure white alpha male of this regions wolf pack step out of the shadows and move toward him. The hare’s hearing was sharp and even at this distance the familiar squeaky crunch of dry snow depressing under each foot fall could easily be heard. His sleek body and long angular head were becoming crystal clear and his smell overpowering with each new step and it was not until the wolf was only inches away did he stop. The hare did not move and as he watched, the sides of the larger animal pulsed as mist escaped his nostrils between each breath. Shadows moved as two more wolves appeared behind the alpha male one to each side. The left was a darker shade and his head was tilted down, eyes glaring like his brother. The one on the right was darker still and as her nose twitched a flash of ivory teeth came into view. As the two remained perfectly still the alpha male slowly inched forward until he was directly above the hare and their eyes met in this way for a time as they both sniffed the air between them. With a huff the alpha male blinked and his eyes appeared softer, his brow became unfurrowed, and his ears took on a much less threatening angle on his head. Turning his attention to the female, he approached and nuzzled her on the neck and the two of them sank into the snow next to each other. Twelve more were coming out of the woods now to join the rest. Several sat down together obviously mated pairs while three wrestled with each other and the last moved, very slowly, to join the pack. None of them paid any attention to the hare as he watched them all enter the clearing from the pine forest and so he turned back to the direction he had originally been facing. He noticed that off to the right near the edge of the clearing two arctic foxes had arrived and they sat next to each other touching noses. A lynx was rolling in the snow nearby as a herd of caribou thundered up from the valley and meandered about for a time pawing at the snow until their obvious agitation began to ease. As the animals settled down they all turned their attention toward the sky. The night was punctured by countless stars of all different sizes shining and sparkling down upon the land as the crystallized snow was carried up by the wind to try to join them. The Milky Way spattered itself through the center of the multitude like a haze high above and as the stars winked and the snow flashed it was hard to tell where the earth met the sky. They all knew what was coming as the ethereal green glow began to form from nothingness. Each creature had been drawn to this place not by what they could see but by what they felt from within. Long before the light began to form in the sky there was a sound that no human could ever hear. It always started very softly as though the wind took on a slightly different pitch and progressed to a louder static hissing. Later it would take on, in human terms, the sounds of a groaning, creaking wooden sailing ship. Suddenly there was a whisper in the wind and the breath of heaven surged as light erupted and the aurora borealis was awakened. Long, vaporous tendrils formed above the black fire of the night sky. They moved about as many and then merged into one, expanded, separated, twisted, formed and deformed by the subtle breathing of that which is so far away and yet so close. The colors began to morph from green to yellow to red and back again cascading through the mist and leaping like static from one ghostly form to the next. Hues changed from brilliant to subdued, from bright and crisp slashes to dark and writhing sheets barely visible over the speckled black void of space. Any human being would have been rendered speechless, hypnotized by the view of something so uncommon in nature yet every eye in the clearing was closed. With the onset of the show of lights the noise had changed becoming louder and less random taking on a much more musical quality. As each note played out and merged with the rest the biting subzero temperature could no longer be felt as a blanket of warmth fell upon the plain and each creature felt a connectedness to all the others that were there. If any human could have heard the sounds coming down from the sky they would most likely have described it as whale song. Who knew how long it lasted for at the time of the endless night it was hard to tell. The stars had moved and the moon was in a different place. The music had softened as the lights in the sky faded back to that slight green haze. The creaking had lowered to a dull static and the wind took on a different pitch. As the hare’s senses returned to the snow covered mountain he began to hear the crunching of the snow from many distant footfalls. When he was content to open his eyes he could tell that the only creature left in the clearing was the alpha male. He turned his head to the left and saw that the wolf was sitting upright and looking at him. His eyes were kind and the corner of his mouth was turned up ever so slightly and as he lowered his gaze he rose and walked slowly away only to turn for one last quick glance and then he was fluid, off in a cloud of crystal snow and gone into the forest. Shortly there after the last of the glow winked out and the all too familiar, “Ahhooooo” from the alpha male could be heard calling to his brothers the wolves, the caribou, the lynx, the fox, and the arctic hare. The music that was heard that night was much more than a series of beautiful sounds. It penetrated the fiber of each wild creature and brought them together as one. The music broke the barrier of hunter and hunted and allowed them, for a brief time, to enjoy the presence of each other. The arctic symphony of the aurora borealis was nature’s song of peace and that night it did not fall on deaf ears. As the bitter chill returned the hare shook himself to bring warmth back to his body. He sat for a time with his paws rubbing the cold from his nose as the memories of the night began to fade but while some of them still lingered he looked up one last time into the sky, closed his eyes, and smiled.
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Page 1 and 2: Volume 2 • Issue 10 August 13th,
Page 3 and 4: August 13, 2015 What's Happening in
Page 9 and 10: Back To School: Get a Smart Start t
Page 11 and 12: 11 Back to School At school I want
Page 13 and 14: LOCAL HAPPENINGS 13 Roseto Day Phot
Page 15 and 16: Slate Belt Senior Center The Center
Page 17 and 18: FACES IN PLACES 17 ABOVE: Michael C
Page 19 and 20: Birth Announcements Alea Egidia Eng
Page 21 and 22: AUTOMOTIVE 21 ROUTE 512 Mt. Bethel,
Page 23 and 24: BINGO August 13 & 20 Mt Bethel Fire
Page 25 and 26: Photos by Kris Ordinsky-Parks 45th
Page 27: August 13, 2015 27 Roseto Recreatio
Page 31 and 32: Arsha Vidya Pitham (Institute for S

The Belt and Beyond | August 13th, 2015

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