Winston Aldworth: I stuffed up

A caribou bull silhouetted against the northern lights, Barrenlands, Central NWT, Arctic Canada. Photo / Getty Images

One of the nice things about my job is that I get to send writers and photographers on terrific trips to amazing places. I'm often too busy to take the trip myself. So someone else goes on the ride.

Once in a while, I get a pang of regret about sending someone else.

"Why did I stuff up and send this other character on the trip of a lifetime?" I'll mutter to myself.

Herald writer Anna Harrison was a recent beneficiary of my stuff-up. Anna flew to Alaska where she checked out the Northern Lights.

When I first got this job, I made a list of places I wanted to go and things I wanted to see.

The Northern Lights was on that list. Still is. What was I thinking, sending Anna?

As it happens, she's written a lovely piece — done a better job of it than I could have — and underlined for me why seeing the Northern Lights is on so many bucket lists.