into the sea. Massive black rocks roared up from the water's edge. Dusk was approaching as Nathan kicked at long strands of kelp which lay like dead worms on the gravel way.
“Look at that.” Nathan pointed upward. A shimmering, gossamer curtain called the aurora borealis, or northern lights, hung above them.
“Looks like a streamer of light! The aurora!” she agreed. The name “aurora” came from the Roman goddess of the dawn, often represented as rising with rosy fingers from the saffron-colored bed of Tithonous.
“This is really beautiful. So much different than the American coast,” Nathan said. He thought he saw the constellation Orion as he gazed past huge green rocks that loomed at their sides. Unusual weathering of the rocks resulted in a green web of copper tracings.
He looked toward Natalie. She smiled. Nathan's heart beat a little faster: he found himself attracted to her on several levels. She was a woman he would never find boring.
“Let me show you the forest before it gets too dark,” Natalie said. The two turned slightly and walked along a trail full of pine needles. Main Street was far in the distance. Yellow birch, white birch, black spruce, white spruce, and balsam firs rose above a carpet of moss and yellow leaves. Beyond was a scrim of dark mist. The shadows looked like stalking gray cats. Daytime was dying.
After another ten minutes of walking, they saw the trees became scarce. Faint puffs of vapor hung over the sodden fields. They looked across the barren lands and bogs; the only signs of vegetation were mosses, lichens, grasses, and stunted trees.
“What animals live around here?” Nathan asked, stopping for a minute to catch his breath.
“The Island of Newfoundland teems with wildlife and freshwater fish. The chief fur-bearing animals are the otter, beaver, muskrat, fox and lynx. Game animals include hares, moose, and caribou, and black bear. I should know, I once came face to face with a black bear and had to shoot it.”
A cloud reached out and grappled with the moon for possession of the night. As they walked down the forest trail, Nathan looked into a bank of snow and saw a sled dog's body preserved by the cold. Its rib cage was white, with bits of hair and flesh. “Wonder whose dog that was,” he said.
“Good question.”
“Let's find our way back to Main Street.”
When the end of Main Street was in sight, they saw a wood bench facing the bay.
“Shall we sit for a while longer?” Natalie suggested.
“Sure.” Nathan consciously strived to make himself as kind and easygoing as his father was high-strung, hoping that Natalie noticed and liked such calmness. Even though he had known her for just a few hours, Nathan liked everything he knew about Natalie, and hoped that the sentiment was being returned.
“May I make a rather personal remark?” she asked softly.
He forced a laugh. “I hope it's not that I smell bad.”
“I think you are perhaps the nicest man I've met.”
He was stunned. All he could manage to say was “Thank you.”
Even at night the bay displayed a remarkable panoply of life. Elegant black-browed albatrosses floated in the air currents and squabbled over what was probably fish head. Arctic pigeons in dazzling brown and burgundy plumage swirled close to where Nathan and Natalie sat. Far away in the distance a group ofWilson's storm-petrels dabbled their wings in the sea as they hunted for tiny prey. Such exuberance of life, coming after months of the barren emptiness of the North Atlantic, had led early explorers to believe that the bay possessed infinite fecundity. Today, unfortunately,hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel all too often fouled beaches and destroyed wildlife.
They got up and walked closer to the sea. They looked up at the stars shining between a few wisps of clouds. On their left were long blades of Deschampsia and tufted Colobanthus. It was difficult for these plants in the winter, he was sure: temperatures often held all
“Look at that.” Nathan pointed upward. A shimmering, gossamer curtain called the aurora borealis, or northern lights, hung above them.
“Looks like a streamer of light! The aurora!” she agreed. The name “aurora” came from the Roman goddess of the dawn, often represented as rising with rosy fingers from the saffron-colored bed of Tithonous.
“This is really beautiful. So much different than the American coast,” Nathan said. He thought he saw the constellation Orion as he gazed past huge green rocks that loomed at their sides. Unusual weathering of the rocks resulted in a green web of copper tracings.
He looked toward Natalie. She smiled. Nathan's heart beat a little faster: he found himself attracted to her on several levels. She was a woman he would never find boring.
“Let me show you the forest before it gets too dark,” Natalie said. The two turned slightly and walked along a trail full of pine needles. Main Street was far in the distance. Yellow birch, white birch, black spruce, white spruce, and balsam firs rose above a carpet of moss and yellow leaves. Beyond was a scrim of dark mist. The shadows looked like stalking gray cats. Daytime was dying.
After another ten minutes of walking, they saw the trees became scarce. Faint puffs of vapor hung over the sodden fields. They looked across the barren lands and bogs; the only signs of vegetation were mosses, lichens, grasses, and stunted trees.
“What animals live around here?” Nathan asked, stopping for a minute to catch his breath.
“The Island of Newfoundland teems with wildlife and freshwater fish. The chief fur-bearing animals are the otter, beaver, muskrat, fox and lynx. Game animals include hares, moose, and caribou, and black bear. I should know, I once came face to face with a black bear and had to shoot it.”
A cloud reached out and grappled with the moon for possession of the night. As they walked down the forest trail, Nathan looked into a bank of snow and saw a sled dog's body preserved by the cold. Its rib cage was white, with bits of hair and flesh. “Wonder whose dog that was,” he said.
“Good question.”
“Let's find our way back to Main Street.”
When the end of Main Street was in sight, they saw a wood bench facing the bay.
“Shall we sit for a while longer?” Natalie suggested.
“Sure.” Nathan consciously strived to make himself as kind and easygoing as his father was high-strung, hoping that Natalie noticed and liked such calmness. Even though he had known her for just a few hours, Nathan liked everything he knew about Natalie, and hoped that the sentiment was being returned.
“May I make a rather personal remark?” she asked softly.
He forced a laugh. “I hope it's not that I smell bad.”
“I think you are perhaps the nicest man I've met.”
He was stunned. All he could manage to say was “Thank you.”
Even at night the bay displayed a remarkable panoply of life. Elegant black-browed albatrosses floated in the air currents and squabbled over what was probably fish head. Arctic pigeons in dazzling brown and burgundy plumage swirled close to where Nathan and Natalie sat. Far away in the distance a group ofWilson's storm-petrels dabbled their wings in the sea as they hunted for tiny prey. Such exuberance of life, coming after months of the barren emptiness of the North Atlantic, had led early explorers to believe that the bay possessed infinite fecundity. Today, unfortunately,hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel all too often fouled beaches and destroyed wildlife.
They got up and walked closer to the sea. They looked up at the stars shining between a few wisps of clouds. On their left were long blades of Deschampsia and tufted Colobanthus. It was difficult for these plants in the winter, he was sure: temperatures often held all
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