Tales of the beautiful everyday from the North
A call back to 2008
While we drove away from the Nova Hotel and the last of the downtown city lights, we all watched the aurora from the windows of the car. We were leaving town early tonight and still the aurora was ahead of us, but it was to be expected under these kinds of conditions.
I told my guests that we will see the aurora the entire drive out, and it will be beautiful, but we will keep driving to get into a better position for later in the night. She will stay with us, so don’t worry about her disappearing as we drive.
“We trust you.”
There was nothing to worry about this night.
As soon as we arrived in the countryside, we bounced out of the car and immediately reached for our tripods and cameras. We were the happiest bunch over the next several hours. It was one of the nights that produced audible gasps and repeating heavy, heavy beauty sighs from me.
Through my early aurora chases with Kjetil in Tromsø, over the weeks of cosy stays at his place with his family, long daytime drives to the countryside and late nights aurora chasing, he was always so gracious and humble.
We were stopped at a gas station one night on one of our chases, and while other guests were finishing up getting snacks inside, he was showing me some of the wallpapers he made for his phone background from some of his photos. They were breathtaking, I was in complete awe. They were gorgeous, gorgeous photos - deep twilight skies from shoulder season aurora chases, stunning purples and red coronas, and he shared with them me, to my little old black Nokia 7500 Prism, for my background. The images are ingrained in my mind forever. I loved them, and I hung onto what they meant and where they came from - this friendship, generosity and wonder.
So this night when we started seeing these incredible, sunlit auroras at the beginning of the night, and later, the repeating coronas filled with the most beautiful reds overhead, I was taken instantly back to those 2008 chases with Kjetil that I’ll never forgot or let go of.
The beat goes on
The final week or so of September filled with night after night of delicate timing within foggy drives, smokey skies, and a few rain showers along the way.
Temperatures are finally beginning to fall, and we’re regularly reaching the dew point. You can feel this wet cold. It’s not the comfortable, dry nights of August any longer.
The aurora has continued to be completely breathtaking. I’m still in awe, I still feel the wonder and amazement. It’s almost a feeling of overwhelming bewilderment. How is this so beautiful, time and time again, and how lucky are we in Yellowknife to be here with it.
I just don’t understaaannnd. I mean I do, but I don’t.
A renewal of the beauty sigh
I get them just looking back at these photos, picking them out of Capture One to export for this blog post. Beauty sighs.
This night was about 10 days ago already, as I fall further behind. Night after night of intense beauty, but I remember the feeling, I remember the heaviness in my chest. It was almost just too beautiful. If it all lasted forever it would have been too short.
It was exactly the escape I talked about my post before. This is a beauty that frees you, that heals you, and the beauty sighs are just the quieter little physical manifestation of that.
These are the nights we dream of, and not every one is just this way. There have been messy nights in between - of longer drives, heavy cloud, and running between locations to keep up with clear breaks. But there’s a little of this kind of beauty and peace in all of this, in even those messy nights. It’s a part of this lifestyle I cherish so much.
A time to recharge
Lately, these nights just seem to pass me by. I’ve been consciously trying to soak up every last moment, every sweet forest smell, every ‘hoo-hoo’ from a distant owl, every moment of quiet conversation and laughter, and every last kilometre on the soft, quiet drives home.
Autumn has been so beautiful, and the nights have been my favourite. I feel in such awe every night and that’s really needed, from all the chaos of my days where I feel I don’t have a spare moment. It has taken me 3 nights just to get through the first episode of Survivor 49. My yoga mat has been abandoned more than makes me feel good. But the peace of the nights like this one are just everything. For a few hours, the stress of baking, emails, cleaning, and every other part of daily life, falls away.
I am exhausted beyond comprehension, but I’m so thankful for all of this. My mind and body yearn for slowness , but my heart is full.
Time to breathe
This was such a beautifully gentle night, which is one way to describe a quieter Yellowknife night. There was no rushing tonight, only all the time in the world to play with photography, star gaze, and relax into the night.
The aurora played with us a little bit early, and then slow built into a final show late where despite quiet conditions, she danced subtly above us before retreating north over the lake.
For all the highs of active nights, for the kind of chaotic beauty and pure excitement, I enjoy these almost more. They’re a perfect time to reflect and breathe, and just enjoy in a slower way.
