It's 12:42AM. 42 degrees. I was just getting ready for bed and doing the final sweep through the house of lights, kids, doors, locks. I went outside to look at what’s out there, as is my nightly custom, and saw an old friend. The aurora is visible tonight. So I snapped a picture. This isn’t going on a calendar or a greeting card, but it’s good to see it again after a long summer. It’s faint, but it’s there. Look from bottom left to top right.

And since I’m posting anyway, even though I thought I was going to bed, I’ll also mention that the cranes have been gathering like a storm. They are all getting together and making daily swirling flyovers in great flocks with their crazy sputtering pterodactyl call. Here are a couple of pictures.

And later that same day I came home from over at the school to find Stephanie all set up with the camera and tripod. And eagle had landed at the top of one of our trees and hung out there for nearly an hour. She wanted to get a shot of it flying away, but the camera battery died.