We all have seen shapes in clouds but on Oct 10, 2024, we experienced a night sky full of an amazing aurora that pulsed and breathed and changed and left actual shapes in the sky.
It was a Thursday because of course it was… and I had my PEMF and then I had a TCACCC meeting. (I’ve told you that I was starting the Rum River Camera Club, right?)
Honestly, the forecast was depressing: clouds, clouds and more clouds. I had watched the cloud forecast all day. I had given up on the possibility of being able to see the auroras.
However, after the meeting, I was hearing hints of colors being visible. My NightSky chaser friend, Christy, had been wanting to try this church near her so I figured why not. We’ll either get some colors or if not, I’ll have an idea about this church that she’s been wanting to capture at night.
I quickly loaded up, kissed the hubby (I invited him but he chose to stay home with the dog) and headed over to get Christy. We drove to this abandoned church and jumped out to take pics. We really could see some colors in the sky! The clouds weren’t as bad as I had suspected! Nyx loves me!!
Even though abandoned, the church was well lit. I went all the way around the church hoping for a good angle, but couldn’t find one I was happy with. I ended up shooting straight up to get the cross on top.
While we were there, a local drove by and told us that the new construction up the road gave great views of the aurora, so we packed up to check it out. It wasn’t bad but the colors started to wane. I tried for a selfie but I was too short in the camera. Ooops.
We weren’t ready to give up and Christy checked a cloud map and found that there appeared to be openings in the clouds a bit north. We decided to try Fish Lake Nature Trails. I still want to get the lake there and it really was a beautiful night. Surprisingly not too hot nor too cold and not humid. (Although I did get a few bug bites, nothing like earlier in the summer when I had to wear a mosquito net over my hat.)
When we got there, though, it was packed. We took a few test shots and there was only clouds. It wasn’t worth the effort to hike down to the lake but we decided to try again. We found clear skies near Cambridge. Another location Christy had been wanting to try was near a lake where her neighbor goes fishing regularly.
That spot is well hidden but we found it and it was perfect! Plus there was no one else there.
And she danced, the clouds were minimal and it was positively magical.
Snagged and played with a photo of my Sylvye (my KIA Rondo). She comes with me on all my adventures.
Although she danced so much, photography was difficult. The best dances were directly overhead.
Lady aurora started pulsing, breathing, dancing, across the sky. I saw butterflies, phoenixes, flowers, angels, and more, but they were only there brief instances, long shutter speeds couldn’t capture the glorious sights we saw that night but we’ll always have the memory and the hope to see such again with a plan to record the magical pulses to share the magic.
