If you mentioned the word, “Aurora,” about a year ago, I would have probably chuckled and started talking about cheap motels, beer stores, and other local facts about the, uh, colorful Seattle highway.

Lately though, I’ve been a little obsessed with seeing the greens and purples of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

Juneau has a lot of things going for it, but unfortunately it doesn’t offer a lot of opportunity for clear weather and northern lights activity to line up. But! After a few unsuccessful searches this winter, I was treated tonight to a great show right out our back door. Green spires shot off the top of Mt. Roberts and at brief moments curtains wafted over Downtown Juneau. The clouds have been moving in and out, as well, providing an interesting contrast to the lights. It was a special show, and a relatively rare treat for Southeast Alaskans! Click on the animated GIF below to check out my album of recent Aurora moments:

Today my wife woke me with, “The channel looks awesome right now.”

If you haven’t lived next to the water before, it’s hard to describe the calm produced by a lazy weekend morning view of a glass calm low tide, coffee in hand. The animated Southeast Alaska clouds haven’t disappointed this morning, changing every ten minutes or so.

Here was our first view (photo courtesy of my partner in crime):

Then, ten minutes later:

Soon after, the mountain was gone. Things change fast, and I know it’s mostly my own excitement for springtime controlling my perception, but it seems like the birds are excited, too, feeling the day length extend exponentially. February and March have been fun this year. Some mornings we’ve been blanketed in snow, others covered in spring melt slush, the view of downtown always changing.

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick note to say that work and life have been extremely busy (in a good way!), but the blog definitely isn’t dead! I’ll be back to it come springtime.

Cheers!