The North light of dawn

Allow me to set the scene.

It’s 9pm. I’m laying in bed. I had heard rumblings that we might have a shot at seeing the lights, but my aurora forecasting app wasn’t giving me much hope. Around 9pm, I begrudgingly pull myself out of bed and embark on a short drive west with the camera, expectations relatively low.

I had a parking lot in mind. I knew it would be relatively dark, as far as I was willing to drive away from the city light pollution at 9pm. I pull in and there are a few people set up with tripods and cameras, a potentially good sign. I get out of the car and to my shock and awe, I can see the freaking northern lights with my naked eyes.

I gasped aloud, garnering some strange looks from the other people in the parking lot (but what the heck, why are you not also gasping? We’re looking at the freaking aurora borealis in Missouri and you’re just standing there, calm? You good?).

The best of it lasted about 20 minutes for me. What a night.