A couple visiting from Ohio called at the hall on Thursday evening to ask what time the Northern Lights begin.
They had understood the display to run nightly. They wished to know the start time, the approximate duration, whether seating was provided, and if there was a reduction for booking two consecutive evenings.
Mrs Hendry, who was locking up, explained the position.
The explanation
Mrs Hendry reports that she began with the sun and got as far as the magnetic field before deciding that was probably enough. She then said the part that matters, which is that it happens when it happens, that it is often cloudy, and that most people who come for a week do not see it at all.
The couple took this extremely well.
“They were lovely about it. He said back home everything has a start time and he had not considered that the sky might not. I thought that was quite a nice way of putting it.”
Mrs Hendry
What happened next
They stayed four nights. It was cloudy for three.
On the fourth it cleared at around half past eleven and there was a reasonable showing to the north, of the sort that is green if you look slightly to the side of it and grey if you look directly at it.
Mrs Hendry, who has lived here fifty-one years, went out to look as well.
The couple have sent a card. It is on the noticeboard.
