Units of time

We started earlier than usual from town, making two very immediate stops off the highway on our way out. The aurora teased early, and if that would have been all for the night, it would have been okay, but as our night grew later into our more usual hours, I became more and more convinced we needed to stay out.

But that’s not always easy, especially over quieter periods of time with not much changing in front of our eyes, except the clock - very slowly, and the frequency of our yawns - increasing rapidly.

“I find the key is to think of the day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than 30 minutes.”

Hugh Grant, in one of my all time favourite movies, About a Boy, talks about breaking up the day into units of time. And as I began to write this post and think back on this night, his line about units of time fell perfectly into my mind for this post.

Sometimes as nights get later and I data watch a little heavier than normal, I break time into 15 minute units. It’s short enough that I can continually re-evaluate where we are, but long enough that it allows for change to take place in external conditions.

This was my key for the night, and it took us through 3am in the -30s to this most breathtaking dance across the entire sky. It was perfect.