The Northern Lights have roughly an 11 year solar cycle. Peak time of that cycle is 2024-2026, so now is the time to check off your bucket list!

I know that is easier said than done. I, myself, have had this item on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and it only went higher up after learning how to photograph astro images. Mind you, I do not consider this list accomplished by seeing this display in my front yard. Maybe it became even more important.

What I have always wanted to see is naked eye, dancing lights. So bright, active, and magnificent I have a difficult time editing them because I can barely find a blank area in my sky.

Don’t get me wrong, I want plenty of images with streaks of aurora like a phoenix and a dragon, and curtains of depth. Images with a swirl of colorful light in the middle and clear dark perfectly starry sky on the edges. Photos with so much impact that I remember the experience forever, and can share it through stories that strongly resonate with your soul.

What this experience of Northern Lights in my front yard makes me feel is not accomplished, but lucky! I am looking forward to finding this luck again, with a local foreground worthy of the appearance of the dancing lady, but it is not good enough, I still long to fulfill the wish of seeing them for real in real life.