Aurora visible in the night sky less than an hour from Downtown Boston.

Outside, the night is dark and cold. Inside, I sit by the wood stove that is cranking out heat for my comfort. Soon, I will allow the fire to die and head to bed. But first… I had to share these photos.

Dr. Farmer Moomin, is an avid sky watcher. He goes out into the blustery night, unconcerned with the chill in the air that makes breath visible and causes numbness in cheeks and the tips of noses. He is unconcerned, because he originates in Finland. The current arctic blast we are having therefore doesn’t register for him as even cold. He finds my obsession, a fundimentalist religion surrounding the wood stove and keeping it lit, hilarious. Because the night isn’t particularly cold for him. Cold, like everything is relative and he is quite accustomed to far colder temperatures. For me tonight is a cold night. Cold and magical. In 45 years of life in this area, my husband caught on film a thing I have never seen before. I always thought we were too far south. So, I never even looked. Oh I look at the sky often. But I read it in search of storms like the fisher wife of an old Irish Fisherman. New Englanders, are always looking up at the sky because we know the weather being reported is never anywhere near accurate.

Aurora over Wildflower Farm!


I predict weather by watching the sea gulls. They will tell you everything. If a storm is coming, how serious it will be you will know depending on weather you are seeing them, and how far west you are seeing them. You can even predict who the asshole in your neighborhood is by the sea gulls. They will be in everyone else’s yard. But not his, never his. You can read the weather watching leaves on the trees. When the clouds are thick, the sky is dark, and an angry grey, breeze lifts the leaves from underneath… Get inside. The rain is about to hit. If you feel the electricity in the air it will be a storm offering lightning and loud rumbling thunder. I could go on for days about the signs of weather New Englanders, are always on the look out for. Because as the old saying goes, if you don’t like the weather here, wait a minute. Changes can be sudden. 

But what Dr. Farmer Moomin, saw in the sky tonight, only he would ever look for. Because for him it would be as second nature for him, as looking for the sea gulls and watching for the breeze to lift the leaves from below for a New Englander. Where he is from, this is regularly and frequently visible. He is from far more north than Boston…

He looked into the night, and hanging in the sky, he recognized it immediately. Like recognizing an old friend after not seeing them for a while, when they suddenly show up at the cafe you both frequent. The Aurora, was just hanging up above Dr. Farmer Moomin, in the night sky as he looked out over our yard. A magical shimmering light show in the sky. He photographed it. Standing in the cold where his cheeks grew rosy and where any normal human would have felt the cold numbing the tip of his nose. Instead, Dr. Farmer Moomin, felt the camera in his hand and snapped some photos of his old friend Aurora, visiting from the north. 

In 45 years, I have never seen anything like this! Perhaps because it isn’t second nature for me to look. Perhaps, because it doesn’t happen here? But the photos show and certainly prove, tonight magic happened in the sky above us. Magic from the north.

I knew as soon as I saw the photos, that I had to share them here. I will caution a few things…. It is November. We have largely stopped dealing with keeping the farm yard looking nice for the year. We will begin again in the spring. But till then, the yard may appear unkempt. That is just life on a homestead. My focus has shifted inside as I settle into the winter rhythm. Now I focus mainly on the greenhouse where my food is growing and other wonderful projects through which I stay warm and cozy indoors when it is cold. The nature of homesteading is cycling with the seasons. Living as nature demands through each one. 

Seeing the photos was shocking for me and so so magical and unexpected here of all places. I had to share it here as quickly as possible. Magic when shared somehow grows in it’s glory, it’s effects heightened many times over by touching everyone it encounters. 

The Aurora Borealis, also called The Northern Lights, or Aurora Australis (southern), and frequently just referenced as Aurora, is a natural light display in the sky. It typically is found up around and near to the Arctic. Auroras, result when earth’s magnetosphere experiences disturbance caused by enhanced solar wind speed, from both coronal holes and mass ejections. What ultimately happens is the disturbances alter the trajectories of the charged particles of the magnetospheric plasma. Electrons and Protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere. Ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light in the sky. The light comes in a range of colors and shapes. The first use of the term Aurora Borealis, happened in the 1600s. It entered English vernacular in the 1800s. Aurora’s take their name from the ancient Roman goddess of dawn, who would travel across the sky proclaiming the sun was coming. The second half of the Aurora’s name, comes from the name of the Greco Roman god of the north (Boreas) wind. and the south wind (Auster.)

Aurora


Auroras, are beautiful magical, and not common here as in 45 years I have never observed one until tonight! There are many places online to learn more about them. They are worth understanding. Still, even when you do, nothing can eclipse their magic. Not even knowing how they happen. Nature, is a powerful thing. It is interesting because it doesn’t always follow it’s own rules and standards. When it doesn’t, truly unusual and beautiful very special magical moments can be had. Such as this one, where the aurora appeared west of Boston. 

Nature truly is a wonder…
Tonight has been an experience… One I never expected to have.
It is one of those moments that reminds my heart why I do what I do, in living closer to nature than most.
There is something sacred about the colorful light in the night sky.
Our planet, is not well and those in power are seeking to make it still sicker.
While most live at a distance from nature today, everything we depend on, has it’s foundations in nature.
Protecting the earth is an essential thing we must be sure to do in how we live.
Thank you for sharing this magical moment with me.
Amanda Of Wildflower Farm