Aurora!

Last night we caught our first real aurora. We've seen it a couple times before this, but only quite faintly. This time we saw it in full force.

 They were bright enough to be seen even with a near-full moon.

 Marel of the North.

 At one point the aurora was right overhead assuming animal shapes. This one seems to have been taken as the firebird was morphing into a moose head.

 Before it faded away, we got an especially bright burst of green, white, yellow, and purple.

Keep in mind that all these pictures were taken either from our living room window or our driveway.  Don't we live in a cool place?  It never ceases to absolutely floor me.  And the Northern Lights were no exception. At times they would be gently flowing and billowing like clouds, then they would just go dancing and shooting across the sky.  They move so fast sometimes!  And they pulse.  As our neighbor said, "if I didn't know what these were, I'd be really freaked out right now."  They are not as peaceful as I expected.  They are wild and unpredictable and all-consuming (at least when they're this active).  They were completely awe-inspiring and I hope everyone gets to experience this at least once.  Unreal.