Hello dear friends! I am sorry for my extended absence from the blog.   We took a 2-week trip over Thanksgiving to visit our family in Texas.  I want to share some of our pictures with you.  It was such a wonderful trip in every way, and I'm grateful for every precious moment we got to spend with our loved ones. It has taken me a bit of time to go through my pictures to share them with you :) 

My husband and I like to road trip together, as there are so many more things you can see and enjoy as you travel. It does take longer, but it is more about the journey experienced together. My husband is a seasoned truck driver, and so that makes it very nice for me because he loves to drive. I did do some of the driving as well, but he did the vast majority of the driving, while I .... took pictures... ha! Many of these pictures are through the windshield, but we also would stop and get out as well. 

So beware... this is a rather long post... a cup of coffee or tea with a lovely treat would be nice to enjoy as you scroll through the pictures, and virtually travel with us :) 

The Lord blessed us with clear roads for the ENTIRE trip! We left home, just as a wild winter storm rolled in. The storm clouds were amazing to see, and we were glad we were not driving in those clouds!

Our area has been blessed in the last month to have a chance three times to see the Northern Lights. Each time, the lights have been barely visible to the natural eye, but because the lens of a camera is so sensitive to light, the lights are able to be easily seen through a  camera lens. 

I wanted to share with you some of the pictures I've captured recently. I can tell you this... now I can't keep looking at the night sky and wondering if we will see the Northern Lights! Apparently we are moving into a more "busy" season with the aurora borealis, as the sun every 11 years or so, goes through a cycle of having solar flares. That season won't fully happen until 2025, but there is more activity happening now with the sun. 

I will share the little bit of research that I have done about the northern lights, and what astronomers and scientists have come to believe about them as simply as I can. 

Northern lights have been documented in writings as far back as King Nebuchadnezzar's time when his astronomer wrote about the northern lights. 

I believe the Bible mentions the Northern Lights in this passage. 

In this passage, it says "their line is gone out through all the earth".  One of the amazing characteristics of the Northern Lights is the lines that dance in the skies with brilliant and spectacular colors. In fact, when viewing the Northern Lights closer to the poles of the earth (north and south), the magnetic action taking place can even be heard!

Scientists believe that the lights are produced by magnetic particles that are emitted from the sun. The sun is constantly emitting magnetic particles toward the earth. However, there are cycles when the sun has solar storms, and these particles are created in increasing numbers. When the particles from the solar storms come into contact with the magnetic forces from the north and south poles of the earth, these solar particles are drawn to the poles in waves and forms. These solar-energized gaseous particles collide together in the magnetic areas of earth (north and south poles) in the skies to create the incredible waves, lines, and forms that can be seen when conditions are right. Sometimes, only cameras can pick up the action, but the closer you are to the poles of the earth, the easier it is with the natural eye to pick up these magnetic collisions of color. 

On October 11, just as I was getting ready for bed, I looked out the north-facing kitchen window and thought the sky had an odd glow to it. I went outside and took a picture with my camera, and to my incredible surprise, I realized it was the northern lights taking place. It was a really cold night, and the stars were dancing in the skies too! It was such an exhilarating experience to be outside where it was completely dark, yet so bright with all the colors from the northern lights, and the brilliance of the stars. 

Never in my life had I experienced such a heavenly experience in the skies! 

Soon after, on October 30, there was a new solar storm that took place on the sun, and the possibility existed for our area to glimpse the lights again.  However, despite all the hopes of so many people in our area (some traveled hours to come to our area to see the lights), the lights were only visible to us right at dusk, and again at dawn.  

On the night of November 3, I was returning home from bible study when I noticed the sky again had a green glow off to the north. However, we were experiencing heavy fog and rain. When I got home, I tried to take a few pictures and realized that because of the heavy fog up on our mountain, it was going to be impossible for me to see the lights clearly. However, maybe you have seen others around the northern hemisphere who were able to capture incredible glimpses of the lights that night. 

Below I will share more of the images that I was able to capture. 

A very slight glimpse of the milky way in the skies.

The stars in the skies were like millions of diamonds twinkling, just amazing to see!

There were so many shooting stars in the skies that night!

The glow of the northern lights through the fog created a rather eerie sky scene!

Northern lights reflect their colors through the fog.

My Dad came for a wonderful visit around the first of September. He was here for three weeks, and we spent so many wonderful days together. It seemed the days just flew past, and that we never got to do all the things we hoped, but we sure did do a lot! 

Harvest time has begun in the garden... well... we've been enjoying things all summer long out of the garden of course, but the real, in earnest season of harvest is upon us now.  Even though it is still August, Fall is dancing around the door with whispers of cool air in late evenings and early mornings that speak of the days coming when summer will have said its goodbyes. 

In my last post, I mentioned that there was a fire that started just over the ridge from our home.  I wanted to share a few more pictures and stories about the fire that thankfully has been just about completely contained, but in the beginning, we did not know how it would go.