The Bee's Knees: July 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

aurora

I ran 13.1 miles faster by 13 minutes the day after Friday the 13^th, after which it was announced that the northern lights might make an appearance that night around midnight when it would be, officially, Meghan’s 31st birthday. I know that it’s possible for the Northern Lights to show up in the middle of Ontario in the middle of summer. But it’s not very likely. I’ve been much further north, latitude-wise, in much better conditions for viewing them and nothing. Seeing the Northern Lights is one of Meghan’s goals that I’ve been chasing, unsuccessfully, for the last two years. I’ve been through all of the Canadian provinces west of Quebec and both North-American coasts in winter with nothing to show for it.

I don’t put much stock in coincidences, numbers, signs, big voices in the sky etc. but these instances are, at the very least, interesting to highlight. We could see whisps like smoke poking out from the tops of the trees that would flicker on and off, similar to lightning bugs, but they weren’t the neon green ripples everyone expects. Maybe our senses were blurred by the light pollution or alcohol but the pictures I happened to take by resting the camera on my shoe pointed skyward are hard to deny. I’ll let you be the judge if cross this one off or not.