No rest for the wicked
A couple aurora chases and a couple day tours packed into a weekend where almost the only time spent at home was for a few hours of sleep, and this is a whirlwind I’m just getting too old for, no matter what I tell myself - or you - so don’t you let me do this again.
But the company and scenery was just so good. We reminisced over aurora chases in Finland and Scandinavia, and what it means to keep such a pure love for 17 and a half years.
Every aurora chase today still feels as special as my earliest ones, and adding in the odd day trip far out into Kluane or the countryside, it feels more and more like those first years in Yellowknife for me. They were a time lived in a constant state of overwhelming love, appreciation, but total exhaustion and slight fear that had me in bed and asleep by 10pm on off nights. The worry of building a business from nothing, totally alone, and overextending myself in every direction eventually gave way to something of a reasonably sustainable life until Covid, and I hope only that the same happens here too.
On the days the aurora dances so wildly and vibrantly, it’s hard to ever imagine a time again when she could be so quiet. So coming home from Kluane on an evening of beautiful sunshine and clear sky, it was hard to imagine the next morning we would be engulfed with low cloud and steady rain. But that thought was cosy, comforting and intriguing more than it ever was discouraging for another few hour scenic drive.
We filled the car with the cosy smell of tea and coffee and hit the roads to recolour my car from ‘celestial silver’ to ‘Earth brown’. Leaving the car in quick bursts for beautiful photo opportunities before again taking refuge back inside were the theme of the morning. And at night, one last chase out into clearing skies for a calmer than expected night of aurora viewing.
