I’m sitting down to write this post when I’m still basking in the awe of the weekend. It was a weekend spent chasing the Aurora Borealis on Instagram, every news article I could find, and finally on the road to Shenandoah National Park to see it for myself.
In January of 2024, I told myself that this was the year I would see the Northern Lights. I figured this meant I needed to plan a trip to northern Montana, Alaska, or Iceland. So when a friend texted me that they’d be visible here, in central Virginia, I was in.
Friday, May 10 was the first night they would be visible. I was recovering from a stomach bug and had to wait on my couch as others posted pictures and experiences. Thankfully by Saturday I was feeling better and could pack up to go experience them myself. But where?
What I was able to find out was that it would be better south and west of Washington, DC because of cloud cover, and that I needed to find a spot to see the northern sky. After seeing photos from Shenandoah National Park, I decided to get to McCormicks Nob Overlook, the furthest south overlook in the park.
For things like this, I never know when to arrive. But knowing how small the overlook parking lots are, and that they said the best viewing was between 8 pm and midnight, I arrived before sunset. My plan was to pull out a camp chair and cooler, let Tootsie curl up beside me, and do some night sky viewing. But when temperatures dropped, I was grateful to be able to hang out in my car with the occasional pop-out to take a photo or chat with other chasers.
I had read that in Virginia we may not be able to see it with the naked eye, but that a new mobile phone would be able to capture the solar storm. So most of the time in the car was spent taking photos of the sky, then deleting them, and searching socials to see what other were seeing.
By mid-night, I had told myself that if I didn’t see anything by 1 am I’d leave. Afterall, the Aurora Borealis apps were all indicating that we wouldn’t see anything. Just before 12:30 am, I recorded a video of the night sky to share that we hadn’t had anything more than beautiful stars all evening. Then I thought I’d take one more photo before calling it a night.
THAT WAS THE MOMENT. Pink and orange and yellow….breathtaking moments that danced in the sky (as long as you were looking at the photos). It only lasted for about 6 minutes. But for those 6 minutes, the photo-taking matched with the oohs and ahhhs of the crowd indicating we were all part of something special.
As I was driving home that night, and ever since the experience, I was touched by the power of Mother Nature. She gives us incredible beauty and healing when we treat this earth properly. Remember during COVID when you could see the tops of mountains and dolphins were swimming in the Venice canals? We got to witness all that could be when we weren’t hurting nature.
The other thing that struck me was the power of connection. I’ve been reading a lot about the loneliness epidemic and isolation. This weekend, people all over the world connected because we were treated to this rare light show in the sky. I was in Virginia, my brother in Montana, colleagues in England and Brazil, and strangers in New Zealand and Australia….we had a shared experience and connection that was more important than our differences.
Nature is a wonderful and wonderous thing.