Northern Lights Moment - Part 2

In my last post, I wondered why I missed the Northern Lights and cancelled the reason I had chosen to miss the Northern Lights. You can read that post here.

I accepted that sometimes the reason we think we're experiencing a synchronicity moment isn't actually the reason after all. I accepted the fact that I had missed my chance to see the Northern Lights this time. I was supposed to be heading home and the 3 day aurora forecast was quiet.

My departure kept getting delayed; but the aurora forecast wasn't improving. I was finally ready to leave four days later than planned on March 23 (3-23-23 - I love numbers) but there had been an accident overnight and the highway was closed in both directions. The highway was also slushy, so I delayed my return one more day when it would be safer to drive.

How lucky or synchronicitous. It turned out that the Northern Lights would be stronger than it had been in six years that night. 

I love seeing the Big Dipper standing on its handle in this photo.

This photo was facing East with the golf course behind the trees.

Since I was driving nine hours the next day, I didn't want to stay up for too long in the night. Perhaps I will regret this decision if I don't get to see them again.

I didn't understand how special 3-23-23 would be for the aurora borealis. It was a G4 Kp 8 event. I understood that going to a darker place would have given me a better chance of seeing them, but I wasn't comfortable driving in the dark to wait alone in an isolated spot in the cold. Especially when I didn't know if and when they could be visible. 

What I didn't expect was that the colours would not be visible to the naked eye. When I was going outside (first at 10:20; 10:40 and then 10:55), I was looking for green. 

When I went out at 10:55, I noticed white clouds dancing in the sky, in a way that clouds don't. When I turned the phone on to take a video, the colours were bursting in the phone. I was SO excited to realize that the Northern Lights were active!! 

They remained active for almost half an hour. In hindsight, I wish I had informed myself better to learn how to get my eyes to better adjust to see the colours.

When I was looking at the photos on my computer, this heart jumped out at me. 

I edited the videos I took to create a highlights video. I removed the audio to delete my ooh-ing and aah-ing as well as my walking around. I thought a quiet video would be boring, so I decided to compose a melody to accompany the video. If you prefer quiet, you can click on mute.

Tips:

• Our eyes have cones (to see in daytime) and rods (to see in nighttime). Rods see in black and white, hence the reason everything is a shade of grey in the dark. The light is too dim for our cones to detect colour. The stronger the aurora (and the further north you are), the more likelihood you'll see colour with the naked eye.
• The longer you are outside in the dark, the better your chance of seeing the colours. Your eyes will adjust in order for the colours to be visible. Ideally go to a dark location without city lights.
• To help your eyes adjust, don't look at lights or your camera/phone screen (lower the brightness if possible). 
• If light pollution is unavoidable, try to have the lights behind you. I walked into a parking lot so that the lights weren't between the aurora and me.
• They are most visible the further the sun is from view - so in the middle of the night; especially when the aurora is weaker.
• The Aurora Borealis Notifications Group on Facebook is a great resource for forecasts, where to go, camera settings. Look at the guides and featured posts for detailed information.
• The video on my iPhone X barely showed anything. The iPhone 14 automatically went into "night mode" with instructions to hold still for a few seconds. I had it on a tripod and held it against my body to hold the iPhone steadier than in my hand. The better your camera and its settings, the better the photos and videos will be.
• Another good resource is Soft Serve News' Aurora Forecast. I took this screenshot a couple of hours before going outside. They also show the estimated Kp in 4, 7 and 11 minutes for more detailed information. 

• They rated the geomagnetic storm a level 4 out of a 5 tier scale with a Kp of 8. The following map explains the Kp. Locate your city, and see which Kp is visible for your location. If your location is above the green line, for example, the Northern Lights are likely visible when Kp is 5 or greater. If you're in a 5 zone and the Kp is 8, the aurora will be even more active.

• Another factor that affects the activity is the solar wind's magnetic orientation in the up/down direction (known as Bz). If the Bz is a negative number (it was -15 on March 23), the likelihood of Northern Lights is even greater than the regular Kp map. If it's positive, the aurora may not happen if with a Kp 5.

Northern Lights Moment

One of my bucket list items is to see the Northern Lights. I have included it on most of my vision boards. While making my latest vision board, I wondered whether to include it. I was giving up hope of seeing them, figuring that I perhaps preferred comfort to seeing them. I saw a tent in my husband’s cousin’s photos when she went to Sweden to see them. She said they lied in the snow for 30 minutes watching the lights. Is this my dream? I loved visiting the Ice Hotel in Quebec City, but I wouldn't want to sleep overnight in it. I wouldn't want to be in a tent hoping the Northern Lights appear. I still included it on my latest vision board. You never know.

I was giving up on this dream, then a few weeks ago, I watched The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy in Finland. He was staying in a cabin with floor to ceiling windows where he could see the Northern Lights (if he stayed awake). Oooh, are there places like that? I googled it and yes there are! I could be comfortably warm and see the Northern Lights? My dream is back. Although, I'm sure if I was there, I would want to go outside to better enjoy them, but at least I wouldn't have to be waiting for hours in the cold.

Another hope for seeing the Northern Lights is that I have taken over my parents’ cottage in Northern Ontario, where it may be possible to see them in the summer, but they're not as common as they are in the winter.

Technology today makes it easier to see them as well. There are forecasts and Facebook pages where people will post forecasts and strengths.

I am currently visiting my parents. It's the first time I come back to my hometown in the winter in over twenty years. The forecast showed a strong possibility for Northern Lights one night. I went outside to see if there was a spot with less light pollution for me to go to, if they appeared. 

I left my coat, mitts, scarf, etc. by the door just in case I saw them from the window. I was monitoring the aurora borealis accounts and had the blinds open in my bedroom.

Earlier that evening, the specialist’s office called from Timmins, which is almost a 2 hour drive from my parent's place. They had a cancellation for the next day and were checking to see if they could go for a check-up.

I thought it was serendipitous. I am here and can drive them. The timing of my visit seemed perfect for me to be here for this opportunity. As the evening ended, I realized that sleeping was more important than the northern lights. We’d be up early; driving for four hours, plus the appointment time and meal.

In the morning, I called the doctor's office to get more information. I learned it was a ten-minute sit-down appointment. If there were any issues, the specialist would refer to the emergency department or book another appointment for treatment. We were going to drive four hours in the winter to have a 10 minute chat. We cancelled the appointment and made the next appointment when the doctor would be in my parents' town.

Afterwards, I wondered, what was the point? I thought I was serendipitously here in order to help my father get the care he needed. I wondered why this call interrupted my attempts at seeing the Northern Lights. I was confused. Normally, some things happen for a reason or at least I find some meaning. The doctor had an opening and lucky us; I was here. How lucky that the Northern Lights would be visible during my visit!! Then, the appointment was cancelled and the Northern Lights were missed.

Upon reflection, we recognized that the risk, stress and discomfort in travelling was greater than the benefit of a follow-up appointment for them. It was perhaps a mindset shift for my parents.

As for my missed Northern Lights, a local photographer posted a drone video of the spectacle the next morning. I took a screen capture and added an arrow to show where I was sleeping under the northern lights to show my friends. It’s funny, I couldn’t believe that Eugene Levy slept while there were Northern Lights and here I was, sleeping under the Northern Lights. We all have our priorities and sometimes sleep is the priority.

I joked with my friends that perhaps the northern lights weren’t amazing enough that night for them to be my “first time” to see them. Perhaps my first time will be in a more ideal setting; maybe my cottage at the lake or on a trip to Alaska, northern Canada or Scandinavia.

Maybe this was the little warning from the universe - for me to reflect when I feel I have serendipitous moments. Although I wanted to believe in the serendipity of me being here, my gut was telling me it was too risky in the winter. Maybe if I didn’t listen to my gut, I would have gone on the road and a bigger challenge would have emerged.

Sometimes a serendipitous moment isn’t for the reason we think it is, and we have to dig a little deeper to figure out their meaning. I'll remember what I'm calling my Northern Lights Moment when my instinct questions a serendipitous moment.

Revive From Archive: Concert Videos

I went to see Bono (of U2) at his book launch tour: Stories of Surrender. 

I'm happy I didn't read reviews or watch interviews. I loved hearing his stories for the first time. I knew of the band's history, but he added details that were insightful and humorous.

The show moved seemlessly from story to song. There were small settings on the stage he would move to in order to set the scene whether it was at the pub with his father or on an operating table. From the moment he came on stage (that brought happy tears to my eyes) to the moment he left, I was glued and immersed in Bono's life. What a great way for him to share the stories of his life.

This blog post isn't meant to review the show. There are more qualified music and show writers who would do it more eloquently.

The show left me once again pondering something I have often thought of and talked about. 

Do we remember moments at concerts better when we have photos and videos to remind us or do we lose the magic of being in the moment by using our camera?

At the Bono show, it was a camera-free show. Our phones were locked in pouches when we entered the venue and not unlocked until we left. 

It felt a bit like a flashback to earlier days when we needed to plan on where to meet up after we separated rather than texting each other and also to trusting our brain to remember moments from the show ... or moments being forgotten.

In a way, it was a relief to just enjoy the show and not worry about when to take a photo or video. I have learned over the years what type of lighting and sound are best for photos and videos, so sometimes part of my mind is on the lookout for these moments.

In 2013, I wrote a blog post "To video or not at concerts". I offered my tips for capturing some memories while still staying in that moment. Since then, I have used the term "memories bliss point" to describe the balance of enough memory capturing to optimally enjoy and not too much that they end up lost in photo/video collection clutter.

I personally love some reminders of concerts but last night's show was a perfect one to not be distracted. There were new stories and new songs that were part of the overall story. Focusing on each word was important in this context. Without photos and videos, we at least have Bono's book to remind us of the show.

In contrast to Bono's show, I feel I don't have to be "in the moment" the whole time at a concert where I know every song very well. I love to capture parts of my favourite songs and even sometimes "magic moments" like I did with Amazing Day at the Coldplay concert in 2017. I still get goosebumps and tears in my eyes when I hear myself tell my son "It's Amazing Day" when I realized they added one of my favourite song to the setlist. The excitement in my voice takes me back to that moment. You can read a blog post about that here. I also love capturing special moments when the artists stray from the regular lyrics or have an interesting introduction to a song.

So how do we enjoy our concert videos? Some of my favourite concert moments are uploaded on my YouTube channel, but I still have others that are buried in my photo/video collection. I also know that someday YouTube may no longer exist. I uploaded many (all?) of my videos at lower quality, so that's not a preservation strategy, but it's a temporary way for me to enjoy some of my videos.

In 2009, while performing at Sound Academy in Toronto, Travis encouraged their audience to video their last song (Flowers in the Window) and upload it to YouTube. That song was the first video I uploaded to YouTube. I had already taken a few years worth of videos at that point, but hadn't done anything with them so I uploaded some of my previous favourites. I have since uploaded almost one hundred more concert videos. From 2009 until 2016, I uploaded individual songs whether in their entirety or clips of them. 

It wasn't until 2017 that I created highlight videos. I combined a bunch of clips into one video using Final Cut Pro (or iMovie). I wanted to share the clips with my friend who invited me to see P!nk in concert. She wasn't one of my favourite artists - although I was blown away by her performance. I didn't want to upload a bunch of her songs on my YouTube channel but choosing one song wouldn't do the concert justice - so I thought a highlight video was the way to go. You can see the video by clicking here.

The following year when I went to England to see my favourite band, Keane, I created another highlights video. I had already seen them eight times so I wanted to enjoy the concert more than take videos. I recorded a few clips of my favourite songs and the one song I hadn't yet heard them perform live. I love the idea of these highlight videos..to just capture little clips from various songs.

When I saw Jason Mraz this summer, I collected my song clips together and started editing them down for a highlights video. This was the process I put in place to choose the clips right away when the performances are fresh in my mind. It's faster that way to easily skip through to memorable moments. I edited them down to fifteen minutes but wanted to reduce it even more. This blog post is reminding me that I didn't finish or post it so I continued to edit it down and am reminded of moments I loved that I had already forgotten about. This is confirming that I love having videos to remind me.

It's also encouraging me to go back to my older concert videos and continue to make highlight videos. Going to concerts was a major part of my life for fifteen years. I want to preserve my favourite concert memories. YouTube is not a preservation strategy that I recommend so organizing them on my computer or external drive is a priority.

Revive From Archive: Meaningful Moments

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away yesterday. When moments occur that mean something to me, I love to revive memories relating to these events.

Her passing reminded me of the last time Queen Elizabeth visited Toronto in 2010. This was a time in my life when I didn't say...maybe I'll go next time. I had been to the Vancouver Olympics a few months before and wanted to continue to pursue my passions (and interests). 

When I learned that The Queen would be in Toronto, I decided to go with my SLR camera in hand. I am grateful that I did since she never came back and I love the photos I captured.

 

I'm thankful that I wrote a blog post about my day because it is reminding me of details that I had forgotten. You can read it and see more photos here. There was a lot of luck (or synchronicity) and resourcefulness involved in capturing the photos. Looking through the photos on my current computer, there is one that I included on my blog that I don't have. This reminds me that I still have photos from that day on an old computer that I want to revive.

The other thing I want to do is to connect moments with this story. I haven't figured out how I want to capture these connected stories yet. Do I want to put everything together in a video format? A photo album? Memory box? In an app/website? For now, I am just making a list of the moments I want to connect like:

• Seeing Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and meeting Camilla (now Queen Consort) at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 2009 (click here for my blog post)
• My first time seeing Buckingham Palace in 1992
• Tower of London visit including view of Crown Jewels in 1992 with the guard saying "Move along; they're just diamonds" that made us laugh.
• Diana death (where and when I heard the news); Diana memorial fountain in London; exhibit in Toronto (where I bought an English Rose tea cup and maybe a program? - I want to revive that memory of the exhibit)
• Seeing Buckingham Palace July 7 2005 (the day of the London bombings)
• Royal York Hotel - my visit for a meeting
• Buckingham Palace tour in 2018
• Growing up in a town she visited as a Princess (in lieu of her ill father King George VI)
• Queen anniversary cards to my parents and parents-in-law
• Queen Jubilee Morning Melody I composed 
• Queen Elizabeth II death (where and when I heard the news); interviewed by CTV News

As I remember other moments that fit in this category or experience more, I can include them to add even more connections. I love the idea of putting all these stories together somehow. It adds more meaning when they are all together.

Revive From Archive: Physical Prints

A few weeks ago it was World Photography Day. I found out a little late in the day, so rather than taking a new photo that wasn't that meaningful, I thought it was a perfect time to revive one of my photos that had been a little lost in the archive.

On that day, it was also opening day at the CNE and it reminded me of a photo that has been described by my hobby photographer husband as one of the best photos I have ever taken. It was taken in 2004 after a mother and daughter day at the CNE where we went to see the Canadian Idol top 5 perform. While leaving, my daughter paused at the fountain. I had a zoom lens on my camera for the concert so had to step back quite a way, but with a quality camera (Nikon SLR) I captured a beautiful photo of my daughter. The lighting and the colours were perfect. In my photo album, I framed it with blue and pink paper to match my daughter's outfit.

We got an 8x10 print and enjoyed seeing it on the plate rail of our dining room for years (top left below). 

When I purchased very long Monet prints at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris a few years ago, I replaced the framed photos with it. Sometimes when we keep the same photos on display, they become part of the background that we don't appreciate them anymore. I thought that putting the photo away for a while would make it more special when I revived it.

I took it out of my photo album to scan it, so now I have a digital copy. I changed the date of the photo in my photos app so that I can find it by going back to 2004 (years from now, it will be easier to remember approximately the date of the photo than the date I scanned it). If I had my photos in folders on my computer, I would have added it to a 2004 folder to find it again more easily.

When I was trying to find the photo in my photo collection before realizing that it was pre-digital camera, I found another photo from 5 years later when we tried to recreate the moment.

I love connecting these two separate days together to notice how much taller my daughter got and that her love for blue hasn't wavered, even to this day. Unfortunately we didn't recreate it this year, but this is a reminder if we're ever by that fountain, to replicate it to add more meaning to this location and these moments. I love "then & now" moments.

It can feel overwhelming to think of reviving every meaningful moment. I find that I'm more excited about reviving moments when there is added meaning in the present. Reviving moments one at a time makes it a more manageable process.

AGO Exhibition: I Am Here

It’s a song

Nothing’s wrong

Everything is clear

I am here.

(I Am Here by David Wall)*

I'm happy I learned that the exhibition I Am Here: Home Movies and Everyday Masterpieces was at the AGO, less than a week before it was leaving. I missed the original (and subsequent) announcements.

This exhibition speaks so much to my love of memories and documenting our lives. This is how the AGO presented the exhibition:

The exhibition was divided by theme. I took a photo of each title sign and put them in this collage.
The themes included Our House, We Are Family, Food Glorious Food, Fight The Power, Dance To The Music, My Favourite Things, On The Street Where You Live, Life Is A Highway, Everyday People, and Panorama.

In the middle of the Home and Family areas, was a collection of lost albums that really had me thinking about how photo albums have changed over the years. For almost a century, people have told their life stories with photo albums. How will the next generation tell their life stories?

The exhibition included many home movies including "baby's breakfast" which may be the first home movie ever recorded by Louis Lumière in 1895. This reminded me of seeing another Louis Lumière film of workers leaving a factory at a previous exhibition. 

I Am Here also showed how home movies have changed since its inception with a special focus on protests captured on our smart phones in the past decade. This part of the exhibition was very insightful and thought-provoking.

I was inspired by the "Mixtape Diaries" by Glynnis Grant-Henderson. I create yearly playlists of the songs I love each year. I have often blogged about them, but I loved the journals that Glynnis created. My husband has made over 200 mixtapes (back in the cassette days). It would be amazing to have some thoughts to transport us back to what he was thinking when he made them.

Another exhibit that had me thinking was one of Andy Warhol's 600 memory boxes. It contained 595 objects that the gallery described as falling into the category of the everyday like Christmas cards, newspaper clippings, doodles and tax forms. As fascinating as it was to see a glimpse of an art icon; it's a reminder to me that as much as I love memories and memorabilia; less is more meaningful and I prefer curating my memories.

I love connected moments, so I especially appreciated this graphic showing the timeline from cave paintings to Tik Tok.

The exhibition ended with a collection of vignettes representing themes of "home-movieness". The 26 themes were titled alphabetically and included a song, I Am Here by David Wall that really resonated with me. You can see a few examples of the themes and here I Am Here in this video posted by the AGO. You can also read more about the Panorama compilation by clicking here.

I saw this exhibition at the perfect time, as I am focusing on Revive From Archive and organizing memories like art galleries curate exhibitions.

*Lyrics as I hear them. Apologies if there's a mistake

Revive From Archive

If I end up writing a book, I may call it: Revive connected moments From Archive for a meaningful present. (Revive From Archive for short)

The types of memories that I love are those that connect to others and that become more meaningful because of that connection.

Chronological photo albums are a great resource like a library, but we don't necessarily want to read every book. Chronological albums are like our photo library on our computers or on our phones. The meaningful moments can become lost in the clutter or what I like to call: the archive.

The Archive includes:

• photos - digital and printed
• videos - digital, cassettes and reels
• stories - written or remembered
• mementos

Just like a museum or gallery curates a collection for an exhibition; we can enjoy our memories better when we curate our collection or archive. 

Revive From Archive doesn't mean organizing our whole collection. Maybe you think that you have to organize your whole collection, but it's overwhelming so you procrastinate. Maybe you think that once you're retired or kids grow up that you'll get to it, but chances are that if you haven't done it yet, it will never be high enough priority for it to get done.

Let me offer a mindset shift. Rather than organizing all your photos, revive your most meaningful ones. 

I love going to the art gallery when they have exhibitions where they display pieces of art from various places in the world and connect them in a meaningful way. One of my favourite exhibitions was Impressionism in the Age of Industry at the AGO. They showcased all kinds of art dedicated to the theme of industry from the 1850's to early 1900's.

Although there is a timeline on this exhibition, they still focused on certain themes. They even made a connection between the Eiffel Tower and the CN Tower.

A few questions you can ask yourself include:

• Like a gallery or museum - which memories are part of your permanent collection? 
• Which are brought out for special exhibitions?
• What is front and center - first thing you see in your house? 
• What is the first story you tell when you meet someone and you want to tell them about your life?
• Which are private collections just for you? 
• Which are more obscure and kept on a top floor...for your biggest fans?

I hope to inspire you to revive some of your photos and memories and not let them be forgotten in the archive.