Live from Churchill Manitoba

My Northern Lights experience in Iceland

While I am writing this post I am also watching the Northern Lights in Churchill Manitoba, thanks to Explore.org The best times to view them are between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The best time of the year to see the lights is during February and March, with many cool, clear nights. These extraordinary lights are created by "billions of collisions between charged particles (electrons) from space with gases in our atmosphere." The result is beyond awe.

It takes a clear night to see the Northern Lights, but not too moonlit a night. I visited Iceland a few years ago and the top activity on my list was seeing the Northern Lights. It was a clear night, but also completely moonlit. On any other night I would have been thrilled, but the brightness of the moon made seeing the lights next to impossible. Our wonderful guide instructed us in using a Northern Lights app on our phones. The photograph above was done via the app.

This photograph was taken the same night. Very different from what I anticipated. 

A sad reality for Northern Light tours. I considered trying a second tour with better results, 

but this was the case for several nights after my first attempt to see the lights.   

Despite my resolve to keep to some semblance of a schedule, I went way off it today. I did get my walk and phone calls with friends, but fell asleep while reading late in the afternoon. I started this post about ten and then went down a rabbit hole of listening to music. It was totally enjoyable -- lots of the Three Irish Tenors -- but it's a lot later than I am usually awake. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care of yourself. Much love and wash your hands!