Deth

Visually impaired fitness and everything else in this shit show.

Finally Saw The Aurora Borealis

For years, I’ve been wanting, hoping, and wishing to see the northern lights. I spent a lot of time with Pop pop when I was little. Now I know the reasons why, but that’s another story. He was in the army during World War II and, at one point, stationed in Alaska. He always said that’s why he learned to hate the cold, but he also talked about seeing the northern lights.

Ever since then, I’ve wanted to see them myself. We’re too far south, so it only happens with the right solar flares. So far, this solar cycle, during which I’ve been paying attention to the times they’d be visible, has been cloudy. Back in May, it was foggy and drizzling, but the clouds looked pinkish.

Last night, I got undressed and stretched out in bed. I happened to look at space weather and saw that the sun sent a CME this way. I’d not be paying a ton of attention, since I was really stressed about the hurricane for various reasons. We’ll just say I have a much stronger connection to someone in Florida.

I quickly got dressed and went outside to see. It was not even really completely dark yet, but the sky was notably pink. Sure enough, it was the aurora. By the time I got back inside the house to tell Molly and told her, it was even brighter.

Pink Aurora

This shows bright pink Aurora borealis in the sky

We walked down the street, hoping to find a darker place. The people around here seem to love having super bright outdoor lights. I couldn’t even see them from out back, since the one neighbor has a light bright enough to basically illuminate the block. He won’t put it on a motion sensor because the animals will activate it. I guess it’s fine to annoy the whole block.

As we were walking down the street, the colors dimmed a bit as it moved more overhead, but there were more colors mixing in.

Green And Red Aurora

This a picture depicts the northern lights. The colors are green and red.

Multi Colored Aurora

In this picture there are multi colored northern lights. It's mostly red with some green or even bluish glows to the right side.

Last night was such an astonishing experience for me. I got to fill in one of my bucket list items. Mother Nature is such an outstanding and beautiful thing, and it’s free too!