18 December 2025
Hmmm – one of those days. In more than one way.
We started off at 5am. Yes. Sure. You try and get a 10-year old out of bed at 5am for breakfast. In the end, the only thing that worked was to physically carry him out of bed. Next, try and convince said young lad to have breakfast. That one went surprisingly well, and soon we were headed for Terminal 2 for our flight. And we made that in good time. Only to find out that our 9h10 flight was now delayed to 11h20 – something to do with crew that hadn’t pitched. Humph. And so, by 10h15, when I noted one of the said crew members strolling up to the gate like he was on a Sunday afternoon stroll on Seapoint promenade, I was ready to strangle him. Did they not understand how very excited we were to get to our destination??
The flight was, well, mostly like any other flight. But as we started our descent, Jean (oh, that’s the 10-year old, by the way) started to get more and more excited. The view from his window was like nothing he had ever seen. Norway! Tromso, Norway, to be exact. He could not stop taking photo’s and videos from the air. And what’s more, there was a faint hint of Northern Lights, even though it was still too light to actually see them. Finally, we confessed. We were not bringing him to just see snow and mountains. The real plan was a hope to see the Northern Lights. ‘Norway is a very beautiful place!’ he kept on commenting. My plan is working. Jean is becoming a real adventurer. And he sees the beauty in things. #proudgran!
But then – the next rather large challenge. Driving. Our accommodation is about 20km outside Tromso, away from the city lights. We briefly stopped for some groceries before we headed out into the darkness. It gets you a little. The best light you have is a bit like a darkish dusk. And by 14h30, it’s dark. Fortunately, the drive was fairly uneventful.
Jean saw it first. We were only a few minutes from our accommodation. and there they were. The Northern Lights. Imagine doing something so mundane as offloading your stuff from your car – under the most beautiful phenomenon. What an absolute privelege!
Today was one of the best days a grandmother could ever ask for. To be able to know that your grandson experienced such a magical thing. But more importantly, to know that he appreciates the beauty. Just wow.
