Aurora Borealis

Sometimes when I get home after work I find it hard to leave again—especially when it gets dark earlier (this time of year) and chillier (also this time of year). However the other night I stood on my little balcony and looked towards the east. The glow of downtown seemed brighter than normal?

I took a photo. Definitely more vibrant than our city’s light pollution.

I exhaled and dropped my shoulders. “Are you the Northern Lights?” No answer. “Well, I suppose I could go check for myself.” So, with fuzzy slippers and a cozy hoodie on, I left the house and drove west to plant myself looking east.

The Northern Lights

If you live in my neck of the woods (Canada) you get the chance to see these beauties a little more often than those south of this latitude. But holy magnetic solar flares Batman!! They have been wild this year. I have missed a few but tonight I wasn’t going to.

So, why do they happen?

I could insert a Google explanation here but the bottom line is that when I stand under these dancing colors I am mesmerized by the magic of our planet. There may be reasoning but to me it’s MAGIC. Layers of explanation can answer some questions but at the end of it all I want to believe that there is something spectacular I cannot understand or need to explain that is simply breathtaking.

I do not need all the answers. I never have.

Magic

I am so glad I got in my car, in my slippers and comfy hoodie. I’m so glad I have a blanket in my car. I am so glad the sky was clear and the night was dark where I parked. I shut my car and faced the city and there above was a swirling green halo—giant and beautiful and amazing.

“For real?” My words were aloud. “For real?” I asked again. “Are you serious right now?” Clearly, I couldn’t believe my eyes and apparently, I was expecting an answer. “Wild.” I hushed. Still, there was no rebuttal to my comments. Or maybe there was, just in visual form—for every word I said the sky shifted shape and color and moved quickly and wildly right above me.

I pulled out my blanket and sat on the ground leaning on the front of my car bumper and looking up at the light show Mother Nature was casting on me. I heard a quiet conversation over ‘there.’ Oh. My. God. I wasn’t alone. I was so caught up in the light show that I didn’t notice the truck at the edge of the parking space and the man standing outside of his vehicle on the phone with his person, describing what he was seeing. And there was the audience I didn’t know I had. It didn’t matter. I was too caught up in locking in one of the prettiest night skies I have ever seen.

He drove away shortly after. I stayed oohing and aahing (still out loud) with every change in shape and color. I saw objects in the sky–twisting bird shapes, animal shapes, angels, wolf heads, arches, mountain peaks in pink and green and red. I took out my camera.

Company

Another truck pulled up. I stood. “Hey! How are your pictures turning out? Mine aren’t. Let me see.” A woman spoke simultaneously jumping out of her truck. She pushed up against me. “Is that an iPhone? Huh. I have an android.” She showed me her phone. “Those are way better than mine. Show me more.” She was a personality and a half but somehow she matched the bigness of the night. I took some more photos. She looked and commented on each as I documented. “My name is Gail. Here’s my number. Send them to me. You’re my Northern Light photo bestie. Don’t forget.”

Wow. She went on to tell me and her husband and a fella who arrived on his scooter how she used to watch the Northern Lights as a kid and she’d play music and the lights would dance more. She said the more spiritual you are the cooler they look. That’s when her husband gave her a look. I laughed and she did too.

They left a little while after.

I stayed. So did the fella with the scooter. We stood in silent awe. Looking up. Admiring. Enchanted. Lost in the ethereal scene above us. Eventually, I headed home too as it was very much past my bedtime. I said goodbye to the other person who looked on with me. A human connection.

My take away

I’m grateful I left my house. I’m glad I was motivated enough to give it a go. I’m grateful that the Northern Lights did not disappoint. In fact, they did the opposite of that. They were 100% satisfying to my eyes, to my heart and to my lil’ human spirit.

I hope if you get a chance to take a chance, even if it’s just driving ten minutes into a dark field and looking up, I hope you take it and I hope you are not disappointed either.

As always, thank you for reading Lovelies.