At just after 11 o’clock tonight our neighbor called to inform us that “the lights are out”–the Northern Lights that is. It was really quite exciting. I’ve never really seen them before, except that one time in Vernal, but these were much better.
They looked like a bunch of green hazy clouds resting on the horizon. With the Big Dipper overhead (the only constellation I can correctly identify), and the moon peeking out from behind some real clouds, it was quite a scene to behold. From what I hear they get a lot better out here, especially in the winter months. Of course, as soon as we heard about it my mom and I headed out on the 4-wheeler to the airport where we could get a better view that wasn’t obscured by trees. (We’re obviously not from around here.) By the time we got out there, they had mostly died away, but were still pretty cool.
Later on after everyone else had gone to sleep, I thought I’d check out the back door to see if the lights were still out and they were better than the first time. I can’t even really describe it. It looked like what I imagine the sound of a world class orchestra would look like if it was a visual sort of thing. I tend to feel very small in such a moment standing there in awe of something so vast and grand and beautiful. It’s a very lonely moment too.
I hope there’s more where that came from.
