Hitting the ground crawling
Exhausted and almost home
My first night in Whitehorse at a lodge outside the city, the day before I would close on my apartment, was a great opportunity to see the aurora. One thing I did know about the aurora in Whitehorse, from simple math and physics (there’s no such thing), is that the peak time would typically be very, very late. And I was far too exhausted trying to tie together everything needed to close on my apartment the next day to keep myself up so late. But early enough for me to see it, with the sky barely dark enough, the aurora arced faintly over the mountains anyway.
And that felt really, really, good.
Home
The next night in a very empty apartment that was now mine, I looked over construction debris and a gorgeous new neighbourhood, to again the aurora dancing over the mountains. After all, a good part of choosing the exact apartment I did was my expectation of the aurora here.
I felt like the luckiest person in the world, but without any knowledge of how common this perfect weather and auroral activity was. But for the moment, it was all I needed.
For nights more since, I’ve watched the aurora dance from my bed.
"It was frustrating almost to tears."
Daytime drives out along the highways were exhausting. Exploring every side road, every driveway, poking around any exit off the highway in search of quiet locations with good views felt never ending and far from rewarding. A map littered with dots and notes to mark my discoveries is a much better idea on paper than it is practical.
Truly the only way this situation was going to get any better, or comfortable at all, was through forced experience. Something that was even more uncomfortable than just the raw uncomfortableness of such a big change in the first place.
Then on a night with extraordinary auroral activity, I decided I would try a new highway I hadn’t yet been out to, not even in the daytime. I hadn’t even looked closely at the highway on a map or Google Earth to get a sense of side roads of highway pullouts. This was, unsurprisingly, not the happiest night of my life.
I drove through the best minutes of the aurora, over and over again, totally unaware of where I was and what was around me. It was one of the most frustrating few hours of my life, before I left the aurora in the middle of her show to turn around and just come straight home. It was frustrating almost to tears.
