Hope & Light | A New Year’s Aurora Story
Most nights when there is any possibility of seeing the Aurora Borealis - I’m going to head down to the lake with my camera. I am aware of how lucky I am to live where we do and the winter makes me want to move to Australia and drink lattes in Melbourne every day. Though that fresh cold does the soul some good - and capturing the aurora in my own backyard is a gift.
New Year’s Eve Promises…
The reports shared that we were in for an amazing Aurora Storm and also - the reports called for snow and thick clouds all night. My camera was clean, my SD cards were wiped clear and my batteries were charged.
As soon as the sun didn’t shine through the clouds as it set - I put on my snowsuit of ski pants and two large down jackets (even though it was pretty warm) and a tuque and made my way down to the lake in anticipation.
There were cracks in the clouds - I even caught them on camera for an Instagram Story…sharing my hope with whoever was interested.
The sun had set and there was a clearing in the sky! (not to the North…but still!)
Jupiter and Pleiades were enough!
My hope was on fire and my feet prepared for the consequences of my ill-equipped boots too worn out for this mission. I was ready. That clearing HAD to mean there’d be more clearings, right?
The Northern Sky was purple with pink already and again it just fueled my determination.
The clouds were moving and I decided it meant it was going to be a great night…
The ice had melted all day and the snow was wet. My boots were failing. I was torn between going up to the house for a solution and missing the moment - so I stayed.
A light pillar on the right and the Northern Lights filled the sky with deep pink.
At 5:50 pm the sky filled with a deepening pink!
I was pretty sure that I was seeing the Aurora - but to double check, I took a photo to the East to confirm (photo below).
My test photo to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing - and yes it was pink to the North!
The sky was clearing!
The next photo is to the West - it’s my way of “seeing” if the clouds are parting AND it allows me to see if the pink is everywhere or just to the North - and things were looking good. The weather apps all said it was going to be a full cloud night - but…
And there it was! HOPE that there would be some sky clearing! (also notice you can see the aurora pink oozing in the sky)
Hope and Light
We humans have stories. Tough ones. Ones we wish were different.
Me too - hopeless times - especially when I was a child. I have been through the spectrum of being ready to give up to completely dissociated to fully present and feeling that light in my heart or around me that kept me going.
I know what it feels like to want to give up. A lot.
I wonder sometimes as I’m pressing the shutter of my camera with my feet frozen and the sky filled with clouds if this is the same hope for light that kept me going when I was a kid.
I think it is.
I would look for the light as a kid. I would stare out my window, over the river and watch the sky and feel how connected we all are to all of this - the sky, the lakes, the rivers, the oceans, the trees, the forest floor, the birds - all of it kept me grounded and yes - hope-filled - but not always hopeFUL - just a sliver, a slight warmth, a tiny morsel - but it was enough.
A morsel of light - enough!
And then it happened…
The reds got really intense and I could see them with my naked eye!
The clouds moved in thick, the wind picked up and it was snowing on and off. The pillars of light from my neighbour’s flood-light got real and I could feel the hair on my arms sticking up.
My heart filled with - what? I don’t know but it feels good.
Those little stars shone like nobody’s business drawing my eyes to the Aurora.
A sliver of light. Pink and definitely there. I stopped taking photos and just watched.
Our connection to all of this is mesmerizing and these experiences are so grounding. The universe has set this whole thing up so beautifully.
Then the clouds closed the curtains and it was over…
From the first photo you see in this post to the one above was about a 40 minute period. And it was enough.
The snow storm moved in - the lights shone on.
As I watched the Aurora dissapear, I whispered…
“Hold on, 5-year-old you. You can do this- I know this feels terrible. Look up. Look to the sky. Do you see the light from the moon? From the stars? The sun?
Do you feel that warmth in your heart? Put your hands to your chest and feel it. Hold on, ok?
Keep going - you’re going to make it. Keep hoping - it’s not foolish - it’s real. Hope is love. You are not alone.
Promise.
Look for the light - like hope, it will always be there.”
