Under Swansea

By Bob Ede

It is not uncommon to get auroras in our neck of the woods (East Kootenay), but when we do they are often faint or short in duration.  So it was a real treat to catch an aurora storm Friday night/Saturday morning.

As it was getting dark I noticed an odd light shining from behind the mountains in the northeast. It looked like the moon might be coming up, but the moon wasn’t due, and it was the wrong spot for it to rise.

I had read in the newspaper that the sun had released a large solar flare on May 22, which was expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s Magnetic field. It is during these times that Northern Lights occur.

Hoping there was a chance of seeing auroras, I jumped in the truck and headed for the mountains to escape the light of the valley bottom.

A 15-minute drive and I put a mountain range between the light pollution and me. What I found in place of usually dark skies was a light show beyond description.

The auroras pulsed and swept over the night sky in waves. They seemed to touch the tops of the trees. The rushing water in the creek far below provided the perfect soundtrack.

I watched for several hours. Just when I thought they were diminishing in strength they would come back with a vengeance.

It can’t help but make a soul feel good when the night sky starts dancing.

Sometimes you get lucky.

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– Bob’s dogs don’t like being woken up in the middle of the night for a truck ride. However, they are getting used to it. Bob Ede can be reached at: [email protected]

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