The recent cold weather has reminded me of a beautiful gift from mother nature - the Aurora Borealis, northern lights. The northern light is like a mysterious beautiful girl, she doesn't always appear when you expect her to, but when she does she graces everyone by performing a beautiful dance.
最近冰冷的天氣，讓我想起大自然送給我們很奇妙的禮物 ~ 北極光。 北極光就像一個很神秘的美女，她行蹤飄忽，可遇不可求。但只要她出現，一定會為我們表演一場迷人的舞蹈。
In very simply terms, Northern lights are caused when gas particles from the earth's atmosphere collides with gas particles from the sun's atmosphere. The different types of gases that collide causes different colours, with green being the most common, and red being rare. There is a peak in this collision activity every 11 years when the chances of seeing the Northern light are the greatest. The last peak was in 2013. My first encounter with the northern lights was in 2014 when I went to Finland in search of this natural beauty. I booked a hotel at Muotka in north of Finland and pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The nearest village was about 12 km away, so the reduction in light pollution increased my chances of seeing the northern light.
北極光是由於地球大氣中的帶電粒子，與高層大氣中的原子發生碰撞而引起的。不同類型的氣體碰撞會造成不同的顏色，一般來說綠色是最常見，紅色是罕見的。這磁暴現象大概每11年有一個高峰，在那個時侯看到北極光的機會就最大，但也不一定看到。上一次高峰是在2013年，而我是在2014年第一次到芬蘭尋找這個大自然之美。我在芬蘭北部的Muotka預定了一家偏遠的旅館，距離最近的村莊約12公里。遠離市區減少光污染，看到北極光的機會也大一點。
On the first night of arrival, the hotel gave us a talk about the northern light, the physics behind it, and a basic tutorial on how to use our camera to capture good shots. Then they gave us our winter clothing as the weather could drop below -30 degrees cold. Here's me in my full kit. The photo quality is quite bad as it was very cold outside but you can see I was very well wrapped up. I remember it takes a good five minutes to put this on as it's quite clumsy, and by the time its on, I wanted to rush out into the cold immediately as I was so hot.
抵達芬蘭的第一晚，旅館為我們介紹北極光和它背後的原理，然後教我們拍攝北極光的基本技巧。之後是派發預寒衣服，因為天氣可能會降到零下30度或以下。這是我穿上整套衣服的樣子。室外很冷，所以照片拍得很差，但你可以看到我被包到像糉子般。我記得穿這衣服非常笨拙，整個過程需要約五分鐘，所以穿完之後已開始冒汗，想馬上衝出室外去。
The next evening we were driven up to the hills to chase the light. Our guide told us to wander outside to see if we could see any activity. About 10 minutes of starring at the sky in the cold, I could see a flicker in the sky. I wasn't sure if that was HER or just some bright stars. As I stood there in the -34 degrees cold gazing into the sky, the flicker intensified and gradually the flicker became waves of green.
第二天晚上我們到山上去，希望可以看到北極光。導遊請我們下車到外面走走，看天上有否任何動態。我在-34度的寒冷中站了約10鐘，突然看到天空有點點閃爍。我不確定這是否 "她"，還是天上的星星而已。我繼續站在那冰冷的大地上望著天空，閃爍開始強化，之後閃爍的光芒逐漸變成一陣陣綠色的波浪。
There SHE was, the Northern Lights dancing in the sky. I was absolutely stunned with the power of mother nature, how she could create something so beautiful. It was like a elegant ribbon dance. The strands of the ribbon flowing in mid air like someone was painting in the sky, simple random strokes left and right, up and down slowly and gently.
"她"出現了! 在空中起舞! 大自然的力量實在太不可思議，可以創造如此美麗的畫面。我看到目定口呆， 完全忘卻周圍冰冷的天氣。北極光就像跳絲帶舞一樣，絲帶在空中隨意的上下搖擺，左一下右一下像畫水彩畫一樣，非常優雅。
I quickly took a few photos to the best of my ability, and then spent the rest of the time admire this amazing performance with my own eyes. Before I knew it, I had been standing in the cold for over an hour. Gradually, she left the stage, slowly and quietly, just like when she arrived. The show was over, my night was complete, I had achieved the ultimate aim of my holiday. I couldn't have asked for more. Thank you mother nature.
我迅速拍了幾張照，然後放下相機，慢慢用自己的眼睛欣賞這個場驚為天人的表演。不經不覺中，表演已有一個多小時。漸漸地，她悄悄地離開舞台，就像當初她出現時一樣的飄忽。表演結束了，為我這一夜畫上完美的句號。我來芬蘭的終極目標已達成。謝謝大自然。
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