The Shadow
I believe astronomers call it a “syzygy.” It’s that rare time when most of the planets line up next to each other. It’s happening right now. Or at least, it was last night and the night before.
I was not able to observe it last night – too cloudy. I was disappointed. I have waited for a syzygy since I was maybe in fourth grade. That’s when I learned to spell the word.
As I’ve mentioned, I was an avid, rather obsessive, speller in my youth. Every year, we’d get a booklet to take home from school. It was filled with words that might be used in the National Spelling Bee.
I’ll never forget the first night my mother pronounced, “Syzygy.” I burst out laughing. What?! I could not spell it until Mom helped me. Then, we went to look it up in the World Book Encyclopedia (remember those? Now we have Google) right away. “Syzygy” immediately became my very favorite word. I spouted it off at school, to looks of scorn and disdain. Even the teachers did not know what it meant, or even that it was a word.
In every spelling bee, I anxiously hoped to hear the word and claim it as my own. Never happened.
But, when weather forecasters, and then even late-night talk show hosts, started telling us to look up into the sky, I kept waiting. Surely one of the weather nerds (God love ‘em!) would take the opportunity to teach us about the word “syzygy” and tell us what it is. Never happened.
It’s still a fun word to think about to this day, and I keep hoping to hear it. Probably never happen. Maybe tonight, the sky will be clear enough for me to observe five planets lined up in conjunction, and I will see it for myself.
Another thing that is happening with a little more regularity right now is the aurora borealis or northern lights. We do not get to observe this gorgeous phenomenon this far south. Usually. But, apparently, they could even glimpse the dancing red and green and orange lights in North Carolina this week. So where were we? Covered in clouds, don’t you know.
When I was about four years old, I remember being excitedly dragged from my bed and brought into my parents’ bedroom, to look out the window. “It’s the Northern Lights!” my father exclaimed. We were living in Alexandria, Virginia at the time. I guess that’s far enough north to at least catch a brief sighting. It was fascinating to a four-year-old, but I really wanted to just go back to sleep.
People travel to far-off lands, like Iceland and Norway, to see the aurora borealis in all its glory. They even camp out in winter in the midst of nature. Folks in Maine and New York and Canada don’t have to travel far to watch the drama unfold. To them, this is perhaps becoming ho-hum. But, I’d love to see them. I just don’t want to travel to Iceland. (Besides, I hear the food in Iceland is nothing we’d want to devour and become used to).
So, back to the syzygy. Maybe it will happen again tonight. I can only hope. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful sight of nature to see? And, maybe you’ve learned a fun, new word … you gotta love it!
