Friday, November 29, 2019

Where none of us are, except BrendaLynn!

The picture doesn’t do them justice. This is taken near where I work, just south of the Yukon border. It’s pretty bushed up there (we helicopter to work), so the lights stand out more clearly than if you’re in an urban area. Cracking and popping across the sky like whips, every colour under the rainbow—they are the best part of a forty below night shift. 

30 comments:

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Whoa! Gasp and wow! Breathtaking. That is so cool.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Holy Moly !

LynnRodz said...

Wow! I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. I lived in Scandinavia and never saw them, visited Iceland and didn't see them. My husband and I had thought of going to Lapland this past September to see them, but we went west instead. One day...

Sharyn Ekbergh said...

I bet BrendaLynn has the makings of a memoir I would read!

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

Beyond WOW...! And this may be one of the coolest sentences ever: "We helicopter to work."

nightsmusic said...

I'm with Melanie on the 'best line'. How cool would that be to helicopter into work every day? And what a privilege to see a sky like that? Wow. Just wow.

When I was a kid, in SE Michigan, we would sometimes see the northern lights from our front yard. But we were rural and the land was flat. Time went by and people moved in and the ambient light overtook everything. No more northern lights, no more milky way, barely more than Orion on a clear night.

Now, I live out in a very rural area again, still in SE Michigan, but it's very hilly. I do see the constellations, but no milky way, no northern lights, though we can see them if we're high enough. Not because of the ambient light, but because it's almost always overcast. I have no idea why.

And I didn't mean to write a novella here. Must be the residual turkey coma...

Barbara Etlin said...

My husband would envy you helicoptering to work!

Katja said...

Wow,just WOW!
Oh yeah,reminder of the time we lived in Canada... *sniff*

We saw the northern lights from a coach on the way home to Calgary from the Rocky Mountains. Not quite like THIS, though!!!!
But, at least, I have seen them. Plus, I took the Canadian 2-dollar coin all the way with me to England. It glows in the dark with northern lights - a treasure!

S.P. Bowers said...

So amazing!

Barbara Etlin said...

I should have added, I did see the Northern Lights at camp near Algonquin Park as a teen. They were green and spectacular.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

oh wowww what a picture!

I've never in-person seen the Northern Lights. It seems like anytime they're as far south as me, it's a cloudy night, and there's nothing to be seen.

Helicoptering to work sounds like an (expensive!) adventure!

Karl Henwood said...

Oh wow. I'm jealous.

Brenda said...

Thanks all. It is a beautiful sight and beautiful country. Moose, caribou, wolf, beaver and a whole heckuva lotta bears.
Jennifer, when a job is that remote, there’s a camp at the end of the helicopter ride. Week in, week out. As you can imagine, the ride out is a lot more cheerful than the ride in.
Brenda

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...

Yay, Canada!

CynthiaMc said...

Reminds me of the Christmas I spent with Hubby when he was on a remote tour at Murphy Dome, Alaska. Gorgeous!

Elissa M said...

"Astounding" doesn't do that picture justice.

I live too far south to get any auroras, but our stars look very much like that most nights. Not the last few, unfortunately--lots of clouds, snow, and rain.

John Davis Frain said...

Minus forty is a hefty price to pay, but a helicopter to work and that view in the skies makes it totally ... okay, gimme another minute to consider.

KDJames said...

Brenda, that is spectacular! Thank you for sharing it. Now I'm SO curious to know what you do up there.

I saw the Northern Lights once, when I was maybe 12 or 13. Way too young to appreciate the pale greenish glow when Dad called us out to the end of the driveway one cold MN night. I don't remember it ever getting *quite* down to -40* F when I was growing up, but there were several nights in the -30 to -35 range. I don't miss that. I hope your helicopter is well-insulated, without any drafty air leaks!

Megan V said...

Thank you for sharing Brenda. Gorgeous. <3

Craig F said...

I got to see the Aurora Borealis back in late 1975. It carved an everlasting place in my mind. It is too bad that all of the colors didn't come through.

I remember it distinctly because it is better than remembering that whole trip, though a lot of it was a blast. We had to rent a copter into the outback and stood on a glacier all night to see it.

The trip back to Florida was the stuff of a horror story though. The new, at the beginning, Firebird Trans-Am was coming apart as we dodged trucks heading south on the Alcan Highway. Neither she nor I knew how to drive frozen roads and the Alcan trashed that poor Firebird. It wasn't built for a trip like that.

Casual-T I added to the comment for yesterday about brining a bird. I didn't think we were traveling to the beat of the same drummer.

cncbooks said...

After reading Brenda's bio on her website, I'm in total awe, as if this photo and mode of commuting wasn't enough ;-)

Lennon Faris said...

Holy jamoly. Those stars! Thanks for sharing, Brenda (and Janet!).

Theresa said...

Adding my echo: We helicopter to work!!! Brenda, this is so lovely.

Karen McCoy said...

Thank you, Brenda! Beautiful indeed. (Adds Northern Lights to bucket list.)

Alina Sergachov said...

Wow, this picture is incredible!

I saw Aurora Borealis only once, when I used to live in Edmonton, Canada. (It reminds me the book His Dark Materials!)

Beth Carpenter said...

Wow! I've seen them in Anchorage, but with the city lights they're never this spectacular! Thanks for sharing!

Donnaeve said...

Not only did her sentence "we helicopter to work," catch my eye, but so did the lovely description of the lights "behavior."

"Cracking and popping across the sky like whips, every colour under the rainbow—they are the best part of a forty below night shift.

Only a writer could put it like that.

Beautiful sky! Beautiful writing!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all.

Brenda said...

Thanks y’all.

Linda Shantz said...

Wow. Been a long time since I've seen the Northern Lights, and I've certainly never seen them that far north! I did see them from a plane once, though!

The Noise In Space said...

This is incredible! My dad would love this--he's an astrophotographer. So beautiful!