"This time of year? This far south? This early in the evening?" Paraphrasing the Facebook post Mike, an avid Northern Lights watcher, posted last night. When I think of the Northern Lights, I am reminded of the trip we took eight and a half years ago to Iceland so Don could cross seeing the aurora borealis off of his wish list.
We affectionately remember the experience as the time (despite wearing every item of clothing we brought with us on vacation) we thought we were going to lose our toes and other extremities. On the true positive, our guide was like a kid on Christmas morning. Conditions had not been good for a few weeks and this was only the third time he went out that month, and one of those times he did not see the lights. After seeing them, I dreamed of returning to Iceland in warmer weather.
A quote from that post: "The lights really have to do with a combination of solar flare ups and energized oxygen (green), nitrogen (red), and nitrous oxygen (blue) interacting with our atmosphere. The Northern Lights occur 60 miles above us – where it is very, very cold always, which is why it doesn’t have to be cold were we see them, it just is because it has to be dark, which only happens in winter."
Periodically this summer I heard stories about the Northern Lights in our area, or might be in our area. One night I stayed up late and poked my head outside every 30 minutes or so looking to the north. Alas, I kept striking out.
When I saw people posting pictures last night around sunset, I looked outside, but did not see anything. A text from Don who said customers came into REI saying they could see the lights prompted me to hop in my car to go to a nearby field.
I headed first to the Keefe Road/Cold Soil entrance to the Pole Farm. That area already had two cars parked in the small driveway before the barricade put in place at sunset. Then I drove to the Hunt House. Alas, the policeman there told us we had to leave because it was after sunset and he was trying to close their gate. He would allow the parking lot on Blackwell Road to remain open because of the aurora borealis. I turned left out of the parking lot and drove there.
Clearly I was not the only one with this idea.
The sky was perfectly clear -- we could see stars and airplanes.
The camaraderie was uplifting, even if the Northern Lights were being shy. People jealously shared pictures of what their friends took that night at sunset, and hoped they would catch the same. I took a couple of sample pictures before deciding to go home, make dinner, and return with Don.
Even with the naked eye, I could see a lavender/pink hue in the sky, but nothing like the vibrant red pictures my friends took a half an hour earlier. Talking to others, we reminded ourselves the colors come and go. They should return later that night, but no one knows when.
After 9 pm dinner, the time we eat now that Don works retail, I asked Don if he wanted to go with me to try again. We took the convertible so we could take the top down and crank up the heat. We were learning from our Icelandic experience -- no losing body parts! It also helped it was 50 degrees out and we were not going out all night.
We went to the other parking lot for Mercer Meadows (on Keefe), but did not see anything. Aimed for the soccer fields, but their lights were still on. Then we headed back to Blackwell Road. There were a lot less cars than earlier, but still a few hopeful people. At first we didn't see anything, but then we overheard someone pointing to the north and identifying a red hue. Just like that we could see it.
Once you see the lights, it is mesmerizing. They are alive! They dance. They are constantly changing. The pink gives way to green. The lights stretch across the sky, then stop, as if God ran out of canvas.
This was our first cold snap of the year. Even at 50 degrees, it was still a bit chilly to stand outside. Most of the pictures I took were from inside the car, with the top firmly in place. A few people were outside, but most seemed to stay in their cars. We were all fixated on the sky. Aliens could have swooped down and collected us, and we would have happily followed them so long as they continued to let us stare at the light show. Yes, humans are that easy to manipulate.
The thing about the Northern Lights is often they are barely visible to the naked eye. You see a hint of a color and wonder if that is really it. Then you bring up the camera on a cell phone, or a good camera, and they become visible. I referred to this phenomenon as using a secret decoder ring. It was magical!
Here are the rest of my pictures:
By 10:30 pm that round was fading so we headed home, happy we saw them. They may have returned, but I was satisfied. If they come back tonight, maybe I'll return with my camera and try the tricks Runar recommended in 2016.
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