Northern Lights on the Gunflint Trail!

Last night, I spent most of the night awake watching my dog Ellie.  She had an allergic reaction which caused hives to arise over much of her body.  Three antihistamines later, she was feeling (and looking) much better, but I kept checking on her regularly until nearly dawn.

In order to stay awake, I watched the movie Gettysburg, since it is the anniversary of that famous battle.  I shut out the lights so Ellie could sleep, and happened to glance out my front, north facing window and see the Aurora Borealis.

It was the most spectacular show I had seen in a long time.  Green, yellow, and red colors danced merrily across the sky.  When I took some pictures, I noticed that there was purple in the mix as well.

Plasma from a near miss Coronal Mass Ejection caused a snowplow effect sending plasma into Earth creating a G1 geomagnetic storm.  The loose electrons in the plasma excited the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in our atmosphere, and the atoms released the extra energy in the form of photons (light).  Thousands of those reactions per square centimeter per second cause the Auroras.  Green, yellow, and at least part of the red light was caused by a reaction with oxygen, and the purple (and possibly some red) lights were caused by a reaction with the nitrogen.

In order to photograph the Aurora Borealis, I used the night sky setting on my Panasonic DMC-FZ70.  The shutter was open 60 seconds.  I used a tripod and a 10 second timer to keep the picture from shaking for that time.

May 15, 2022 Full Lunar Eclipse

 I spent most of my day hosting radio shows on WTIP.  My Dad had told me about the eclipse the night before, so I was looking forward to seeing it at the end of my Classic Country show.

When I was reading the weather forecasts throughout the day, it was calling for cloudy weather in the evening, and I was seeing a lot of clouds coming in through the windows of Studio B. I was also sent a message from my home on the Gunflint Trail that it was cloudy there.

It was a nice surprise when one of my friends in Grand Marais texted me that the clouds were clearing and the Moon was coming up.  While I was loading my car, I could see the Moon rising behind the trees, and it was partially cloudy.  My boxer Ellie and I then went for a walk to the end of Artist Point in Grand Marais, and were able to see the eclipse through the clear spots in the sky.

We stopped again at the Pincushion Mountain Overlook parking lot above Grand Marais for another viewing.  It was quite beautiful at that point.

On the way up the Gunflint Trail, I could see clear skies, and a very eclipsed Moon.  I stopped at several points to get pictures, and eventually arrived back at Gunflint Lake.

At that point, I found another person who wanted to see the eclipse, and we headed out to find a good viewing spot.  Our last stop was at the Gunflint Lake Public Landing, where we noticed that there was an eclipse in one direction and a faint showing of the Northern Lights in another direction.  We couldn't have asked for more amazing sights, and the loons calling in the distance were an added bonus.

Eclipse over Artist Point

Eclipse over Lake Superior

Full Eclipse

Nearly Full Eclipse

End of the Eclipse with a Moon Bow - Gunflint Lake, MN

Skijoring with Ellie

 

Ellie

I am training Ellie how to skijor.  Skijoring is a fun sport where a person is pulled on skis by one or more dogs.

The last dog I taught to skijor was a very determined chocolate lab named Rudy.  He loved skijoring more than just about anything else in this world, with the possible exceptions of human companionship, swimming, fetching, and treats.  If you mentioned skijoring any time of the year, he would start jumping up and down and barking.

Ellie on the other hand, is still deciding if she enjoys the sport.  Boxers aren't as eager to please as labs, so she is having more fun being outside, biting at the ends of the skis and leapfrogging down the trail.  Anyone who is experienced with boxers knows that they like to leap more than run.

In the last couple of weeks, we have made some definite progress.  She is pulling from time to time, and she has almost stopped biting at my skis and trying to grab the line behind her.  Yesterday, we made it to the end of the Amperage Run Ski Trail for the first time.  The temperature was a little below zero Fahrenheit, but we were both warm and happy.

I hope in time she is able to love skijoring as much as Rudy.  The first completion of that trail is a great start.

Ellie and me at the end of the Amperage Run Ski Trail.  As you can see, it was cold!