”NOThern” lights
She got me, she got me good.
Hey friends, last night my wife, Gigi, was out at a friend’s house a few miles away from us. I was a bit busy with a project, so I continued work. (Plus—and other parents can relate to this—that way we didn’t need to get a last-minute babysitter.)
After about 20 minutes, Gigi texted me: “northern lights.”
I texted back: “really? wow!”
Then I rushed outside to look, for I had high hopes of seeing something tonight.
Btw, both of us have never seen the northern lights. It’s an extremely rare phenomenon to see in the Netherlands. But a day ago, some people in the north, where we live, did get to see it, though we only heard it on the news the morning after.
It was kinda cloudy, so I couldn’t see much. Still, coatless, I braved the slippery, cold, and icy roof on my clomps to get a better view. But alas, no northern lights. Although I did feel the sky was much brighter than usual and had a strange reddish haze to it.
So I texted Gigi, “you mean that reddish thing? you got a picture?”
A few minutes later, she sent me a photo. I looked at it and immediately became very envious.
It was a difficult decision, but I chose to let my work be unfinished for now—even though I had to finish it that night. For I just had to see these mystical lights.
I quickly grabbed my coat from inside and went outside again. Meanwhile getting frustrated—not for the first time—with my neighbor who has floodlights turned on 24/7, even when they’re on vacation…
Still nothing. No northern lights.
I looked around the sky, freezing my buttocks off for another 30 minutes, but it was just too cloudy.
Defeated, I went inside.
But then I had the great idea to go lie in bed, with all the lights in the bedroom turned off and the curtains up. That way, if some colors would show up in the night sky, I could see them. All the while, I’d be able to still get some work done on my laptop—with the brightness setting at its lowest, of course. Genius!
Fast-forward another half hour—not a night light in sight—and Gigi comes home.
She walks into our bedroom and asks: “why is it so dark in here? and why are the curtains up?”
And I’m like, “eh babe, I wanna see the northern lights? duh.”
Gigi bends over and starts laughing like she just heard the best joke in her life.
I ask her, “what? what’s up?”
After taking a deep breath, she replies in a shrieking voice, “you fell for that?! I thought you were smarter than that!” And continued laughing like a maniac.
I got fooled. Big time. (It’s probably been a decade since Gigi fooled me like that. Most of the time, I’m the joker in the house…)
She made it all up, and had a great time laughing at my naïvité with our friends…
😒 If you’re reading this, babe, I’m glad at least someone had fun, cause I only finished my work by 1 AM, having stared at a cloudy night-sky for so long.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
Regards,
Jibran
PS. I actually had something else in mind for today, but this funny thing happened, so I’ll keep the other stuff for next week’s Meaning-Making.