Northern Lights

Mandy is going to be leaving at the end of this week, and she hadn't had a chance to see the aurora, yet. I had seen a couple of fading displays in the morning on my way to school, but nothing spectacular. Although, when I say "nothing spectacular," I mean that relatively. The first time I saw the aurora, it took my breath away.

We kept an eye on the auroral forecasts, but nothing ever worked out. Either the weather would be good and there would be no aurora, or there would be a huge aurora and be completely overcast. A couple of nights ago, however, it finally worked out. We set the alarm for 3:00 a.m. (our local midnight). When we looked out the window in the early hours of the morning, I could plainly see the aurora despite the streetlights near our house. We got dressed and went outside. The display wasn't as big as some that you see on tv, but it was beautiful.

The pale-green river of light flowed from the northeast, splitting here, rejoining there as it occasionally overflowed and dripped its light into space.