Give Thanks...Finally Saw Them, But Almost Gave Up, Again

 Last week millions of Americans witness one of nature's greatest displays, something reserved for those living close to the poles. I've been on this planet for close to six decades and in all that time, I never witness the Northern Lights...

Until last week.

The strangest thing is, I almost missed it.

My first memory is trying to see the lights came when I was a child. We were visiting family in Driggs, Idaho and the adults were saying the Northern Lights might be visible. I remember standing out in the cold Eastern Idaho night and looking in the sky. I saw nothing. I can't remember if anyone did that night.

Since then, I've always wanted to see the lights, but they eluded me. The last time we might get to see them in Utah, I went outside and...nothing. Bummer.

With all the hype this time, I was sure we'd see them. At 10:30pm on Saturday night we loaded up the van--dog included--and drove to the Utah/Idaho boarder. As we drove, I couldn't see them. During the day before, we had clouds and as we drove north, I kept seeing what I thought were clouds. We exited the highway and drove down a dark street where a dozen or so other cars were already there. 

We saw it. The sky in the north was brighter than in the south. What I thought was clouds were actually the nights. I got out my Nikon and took a long exposure shot. We climbed back in the car and drove home.

I thought they'd be more impressive, but I was glad to have seen them.

The kids went to bed and I finally got to look at the picture of the lights. A green haze within the stars. Cool. I wasn't ready to go bed, so I took the Nikon outside to see if I could catch anything. I mean, we had more light pollution than Idaho, but I tried anyway. After taking a couple of pictures, I realized, the show was just starting.

I went inside buzzing. I showed my wife what the camera caught and we got the boys back up and we went outside again. This time, it was incredible. Blues, greens, purples, pinks, lines of colors shifting and changing. My wife, son, and I stayed up for more than an hour just looking at the lights. I took so many pictures, not all turned out, and they paled in comparison to others posted online, but I didn't care.

I finally saw them. They were worth the wait.

Had I not decided to give it one more chance and try again to the see the Northern Lights, I would have gone to bed knowing I had seen the light, but not really, not seeing what was really there.