northern lights

The first weekend in November 2004, there was an incredible Northern Lights display. We had gone to Seattle that weekend for Ryan & Sara's engagement party and to meet Sara's family for the first time. We flew home on the red-eye Sunday night/early Monday morning. From the plane we could see the green lights flashing outside. Unfortunately neither of us had a window seat, so the view was limited. I was thrilled when we got home and I found these photos posted on the net. A guy who lives a couple bays over from us had taken about 50 photos that were incredible. I've posted 4 of them here. The quality of his photos was great, and I hope some of the detail shows in the ones I have posted.

I remember seeing the Northern Lights many times as a kid. We lived on a farm in northern Iowa, and the sky was endless. Every clear night during the summer (and probably year round), we could look up and see the Milky Way. It has been years since I've seen it. And when the Northern Lights did their display, it was better than any fireworks.

I remember both green and pink lights flashing across the sky when I was little, so I was happy to see the red show up in some of his photos. I've seen the lights a couple times in the past 20 years (how sad is that?!), but it's always been just fingers of green sweeping across the sky. I've found that if we have a halfway decent display and I'm aware of it, that I can see quite a bit laying out at the end of the dock and looking toward the north. It's just far enough away from house and street lights if I keep my eyes focused on the sky.

How cool would it be to see them from Alaska - big sky - no pollution ( hopefully, less anyway). It would probably feel like you could just reach out and touch them.

On the homefront, we have another grey rainy day. I can see leaves on the lilac bushes starting to show a little green, and the plants in the gardens are shooting up. The grass is even turning green. I love taking my garden tours (with dogs prancing and dancing through gardens and yard) and seeing all the new things pushing their way up through the dirt. Spring really is quite miraculous to observe!