As the world sleeps, I am awake, enchanted by the pulsing, multicoloured lights vibrating outside my window. I imagine that I alone, am dancing with the Aurora.
It’s winter of 1970, Sopot, Poland, and beneath the covers with a flashlight in hand, I read “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London. It transports me to the frozen tundra, where I hunt caribou, dig for gold, and mush with sled dogs under the Northern Lights. I dream of living with Indians, and learning their way of life.
Back in my bedroom, I experiment with acclimatising myself to extreme cold. That whole winter I practice sleeping without a blanket. I even take cold baths (when my parents are not at home). Other than that, I’m just an ordinary kid, I go to school, do my homework, help my mom and dad at home in the evenings. They expect me to be good. I try hard to please them, and, do it with a smile.
Off course, Kajtek and Koko are also how I escape the routine monotony of life. Together we travel to the distant stars in the “W kosmosie” (that is running now for over 2 years)! I am certain that now, that the Americans have landed on the moon, they are following “W kosmosie” as well.
Excerpt from my journal, 1970.
To this day I am dancing with the Aurora! Here in The Spirit Journey, Kajtek and Koko encounter the magnificent Aurora (Northern Lights) as well…
…which by the way, Koko saw very first time on his Arctic expedition in 1962!
This artwork by Polish illustrator Janusz Grabiański, on the cover of “White Fang and The Call of the Wild” by Jack London, is a testament to the power of art. It changed my life forever.