I have wanted to see the Northern Lights for as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to old Chris LeDoux 8-tracks, and he sang about the Aurora Borealis in Night Rider’s Lament. Years later, he mentioned the lights in Western Skies. And I always thought he was probably right when he said, “You ain’t lived until you’ve watched those Northern Lights.”
And it wasn’t for lack of trying that I kept missing them. I took a five-day trip to Alaska in the prime part of the Northern Lights season about 10 years ago. I slept a grand total of six hours on that trip, and I spent every hour of darkness standing out there in 10-degree temperatures, hoping the clouds would part long enough for me to see the lights. We were getting reports from all over the rest of Alaska that they were possibly the most magnificent lights they’d ever had, but there I was, standing out in the freezing cold, under a thick blanket of overcast.
And every time we get the news that you might be able to see them from Wyoming, I camp out in a lawn chair in my yard, or go out into the prairie, far away from any yard lights, and try to catch a glimpse. But until earlier this year, I never had any luck.
That changed a few months ago, when I finally got to see them. Then last week, we got the news that they were back again, and again visible from parts of Wyoming. I went 50 years without seeing them, then I got to see them several times in the last couple of months.
Seeing them has only fueled my desire to see them again. Let’s hope we get more opportunities this year. Chris was right. You haven’t lived until you’ve watched those Northern Lights.
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