Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

Be a wild strawberry.

This fight is for everything.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Giving up is unforgivable.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

So very ready.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

This really is a full service blog.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You cannot love your country only when you win.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow

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Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 1

Click for full size. This is from Lars Leber Photography (find his works here), he’s one of my favorite Colorado photographers. This was out on the Eastern Plains of the state.  But this one…from my backyard:

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow

Click for full size. I never expected to see this from my backyard – between our location and the light pollution. Have to tell you I was more in awe and emotional than I expected as I watched it.

And since it’s Caturday, here’s some Reggie (I swear to you, I’m worse than a new mom with all the photos I’ve been taking and sharing)

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 3

He loves his puppies and curls up with one whenever he can. This is him snuggled in Trixie’s arm.

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 2

I swear he just works on his cute poses. That rabbit has seen some things. It was my first Tuxedo Jake’s favorite place to snuggle and I have debated throwing it out (it’s pretty beat up) many times since he passed. But cat after cat has claimed it. So he stays.

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 4

I have found if I need to get some work done, if I find him something to jump in and out of,  it occupies him for quite a while. Laundry baskets and my office trash can are favorite spots.

I’m off to finally plant the veggie garden. What’s on your list to do today?

Did anyone else get a light show last night?

This is an open thread

Reader Interactions

110Comments

  2. 2.

    MomSense

    Yes, we had an amazing light show last night.  My son got a few snaps.  You could see the silhouettes of the pine trees against the lights and reflected on the lake.

  7. 7.

    RaflW

    We were debating going out, then BF looked at FarceBook and it was a rare occasion that the ad-soaked, tedious site was useful! People in our area were posting pics and, despite it being 10:15pm and facing a very busy Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening (including 5+1+1 hours of driving), we hopped in the car for a 35 min scramble up north of the Twin Cities metro.

    So, so glad we did. Earlier friends got more magentas and maybe more overall brightness (hard to know, as phone’s camera apps seem to enhance most folks pics well beyond what the eye saw).

    I’d seen Northern Lights somewhat akin to these once before, in Minneapolis, but these were pulsing, swirling and dancing around way more, and covering much more of the up high sky than that other time.

    For like the first 8 years I lived in MN it was a standing instruction, with plenty of ribbing for the time I’d missed the lights, that at my annual 10 day gay men’s campout north of Lake Superior “Wake RaflW up if there’s Northern Lights. Whatever time.”

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I missed last night’s light show, too much low haze with the light pollution from St Clair. I checked every time the dogs woke me up to go pee but it never changed. Hopefully tonight will be clearer. If not… I still have memories of October nights in Ontario.

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    @Baud:

    I need the Northern Lights to happen when I’m awake.

    WTF? Judging from your posts here you never sleep.

  10. 10.

    RaflW

    @Baud: BF texted his sister, because we saw that people 15 minutes from her in SE Wisc were posting great photos (but from earlier).

    She and her hubs — they live by a corn field, very rural — ran outside, couldn’t see anything happening. And then a few raindrops hit their upturned faces.

    Sad trombone.

  13. 13.

    narya

    Downstairs neighbor and I are going to make another attempt tonight–we’re going to start earlier, and head to a place a few blocks south that should have less light pollution, plus there should be fewer clouds. My friend is at his family’s farm near LaCrosse (wild turkey season . . .), and he said they were still going when he went to bed at 3-something. Fingers crossed; this is something I’ve always wanted to see.

  14. 14.

    Nukular Biskits

    I’m on business travel but I heard from folks back home that the show was awesome on the MS Gulf Coast.

    Gonna check the forecast for tonight and maybe drive east into the mountains if there be an encore

  16. 16.

    Trivia Man

    @RaflW: I took a nap while it rained then drove to the marsh an hour north of Madison. Covered most of the sky but only very dim colors to the naked eye

  17. 17.

    StringOnAStick

    We went to Smith Rock state park last night and it was great.  It really does take until full darkness to see them, so at 10:30 it turned into very good viewing.  Thanks to the guy who showed us how it looked on his iPhone so we stayed long enough to get a great show.  Yes, the colours are much more intense in photos but we could easily see the pale green curtains dancing slowly, at one point nearly half the sky.  I love a good natural phenomena!

  18. 18.

    cmorenc

    I am in grand junction colorado and went out about 1am to see if the aurora was visible, but alas too much high, thin overcast to see it if it was there.  Will try again tonight.

    Even though dark skies on a clear night within a few miles all around grand junction, in the redlands area in town there are too many lights for decent astronomical views.  So that is working against me, plus nailed to nearby the house bc we are babysitting the grandkids this long weekend.

  19. 19.

    Miss Bianca

    What time did you see the lights last night/this morning?

    Also, you are planting today? I am staring grimly out the window at all the fucking SNOW that the weather report keeps insisting is supposed to be rain.

  20. 20.

    TaMara

    @Miss Bianca: OMG, sorry about the snow! I have walls of water for the tomatoes. The peppers will stay inside another week. I need to get the cuke, zucchini and pumpkin seeds into the ground.

    That photo was about midnight – I hear it was more intense around 3 am again.  Fort Collins had a real show.

  22. 22.

    Kristine

    Slept though this morning’s show—it rained earlier here in NE Illinois and the clouds weren’t expected to clear out until 330-4am. I will try to stay up tonight.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    Great photos!

    In SF movies, a light show like this means that space aliens have landed.

  26. 26.

    Scout211

    I hope to stay awake and see the show tonight. Because NorCal did get a nice show last night.

    In political news,  ProPublica is out with another big investigative story:

    IRS Audit of Trump Could Cost Former President More Than $100 Million

    I am always a bit skeptical when a story has a qualifier like “could” in it.  But embarrassing Trump is still good news any day.

    Former President Donald Trump used a dubious accounting maneuver to claim improper tax breaks from his troubled Chicago tower, according to an IRS inquiry uncovered by ProPublica and The New York Times. Losing a yearslong audit battle over the claim could mean a tax bill of more than $100 million.

    The 92-story, glass-sheathed skyscraper along the Chicago River is the tallest and, at least for now, the last major construction project by Trump. Through a combination of cost overruns and the bad luck of opening in the teeth of the Great Recession, it was also a vast money loser.

    But when Trump sought to reap tax benefits from his losses, the IRS has argued, he went too far and in effect wrote off the same losses twice.

    The first write-off came on Trump’s tax return for 2008. With sales lagging far behind projections, he claimed that his investment in the condo-hotel tower met the tax code definition of “worthless,” because his debt on the project meant he would never see a profit. That move resulted in Trump reporting losses as high as $651 million for the year, ProPublica and the Times found.

    There is no indication the IRS challenged that initial claim, though that lack of scrutiny surprised tax experts consulted for this article. But in 2010, Trump and his tax advisers sought to extract further benefits from the Chicago project, executing a maneuver that would draw years of inquiry from the IRS. First, he shifted the company that owned the tower into a new partnership. Because he controlled both companies, it was like moving coins from one pocket to another. Then he used the shift as justification to declare $168 million in additional losses over the next decade.
    . . .

    If the IRS prevails, Trump’s tax returns would look very different, especially those from 2011 to 2017. During those years, he reported $184 million in income from “The Apprentice” and agreements to license his name, along with $219 million from canceled debts. But he paid only $643,431 in income taxes thanks to huge losses on his businesses, including the Chicago tower. The revisions sought by the IRS would require amending his tax returns to remove $146 million in losses and add as much as $218 million in income from condominium sales. That shift of up to $364 million could swing those years out of the red and well into positive territory, creating a tax bill that could easily exceed $100 million.

    More details at the link.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: When I was in HS in Dayton, OH, a friend said that it always rained if he went to Indiana and got out of the car.  (Once he went and didn’t get out of the car, and it didn’t rain.)

    Lots of weird things about that state!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    Kelly

    @StringOnAStick: Aurora over Smith Rock! Nice. The lights got going around 11 on the this of the mountains. It started with pale streaks then added diffuse pink across the northern sky. Waiting around was alright. Crescent moon, a few meteors and bats.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    @TaMara: Wonderful pictures!    You or WaterGirl should consider having readers send their pictures of to lights to share with those who missed it.   Opiejeanne had a nice photo also.

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    😡 MAGA voters are gunning for Harry Dunn:

    Wealthy MAGA donors are funneling millions of dollars to the campaign of a Democrat who’s running against former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, a report revealed Saturday.

    Dunn is running against state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, among others, for the Democratic nomination to represent Maryland’s third district in Congress. The state’s primary is on Tuesday.

    But his opponent has received a multi-million dollar flood of donations from a surprising source — a right-wing super PAC that has raised tens of millions of dollars from donations from some of Trump’s biggest supporters.

    The United Democracy Project is an arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Salon reported that in March it spent $600,000 on a TV ad campaign boosting Elfreth’s support for abortion rights.

    Describing itself as a group of “Democrats, Republicans and Independents” who support “America’s partnership with our democratic ally Israel,” Salon reported the group has now spent $4.2 million backing Elfreth — much more than the $1.4 million her own campaign has raised.

    But, Salon reported, the ads paid for by the PAC don’t mention Israel.

    Among the millionaires funding the campaign are Larry Mizel, who served as Trump 2016 fundraising campaign in Colorado.

    Real estate developer Robert Kargman has given Elfreth $5,500. He gave $25,000 to Trump’s 2020 campaign and backed the congressional campaign of far-right activist Laura Loomer.

    Dunn told Salon, a candidate receiving “dark money spending bankrolled by MAGA Republicans” is effectively backing right-wing Trumpian policies.

    “Any candidate who receives this support [and] refuses to condemn their meddling in this race essentially accepts the endorsement of those who incited the rioters I fought on January 6th,” he said.

    rawstory.com/harry-dunn-2668234088/

    Any Virginia peeps have a sense of how Dunn’s primary is doing?

  32. 32.

    Christopher Mathews

    Tonight’s forecast is quite good, as well.

    Iceland was entirely cloud-covered last night, alas, and we expect the same tonight.  But the rest of you – have fun!

  33. 33.

    greenergood

    Aurora in Scotland was nuts last night – in fact, most of the UK. If you look at #northernlights on xwitter there are photos from everywhere, even Brooklyn, and Texas! And tonight there may well be more – it’s the 22nd biggest solar surge ever recorded, and no bright moon.  While there is so much sadness and horror in the world just now, it is amazing to see how we are still also capable of wonder and awe …

  37. 37.

    Baud

    @Jackie:

    Any Virginia peeps have a sense of how Dunn’s primary is doing?

     

    No love for Maryland peeps, where the primary is?

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    I’m seeing pictures from my own town in CT. Will this happen again tonight? I can’t see myself getting up at 2:00 AM, but I might consider it.

  41. 41.

    StringOnAStick

    @Kelly: We saw several satellites, I think a few bats. Being able to see the pinks with the unaided eye happened for our friends in Gates, but not here; too much light from Redmond I think. That sliver of a moon setting behind Misery Ridge was excellent too, and that’s when the show really started.

  42. 42.

    Jackie

    Is Nikki about to stab her supporters in the back?

    “Nikki Haley is under active consideration by Donald Trump’s campaign to be his running mate,” Axios reports.

    “The GOP rivals’ relationship remains chilly, but Trump could pick Haley if he were convinced she’d help him win the presidency, avoid a potential prison sentence and cover tens of millions in legal bills if he loses.”

    “Trump is scrambling to make up a fundraising disadvantage against President Biden and pay legal fees. Haley, meanwhile, has deep ties to donors who are wary of the former president.”

    FWIW, TIFG is strongly denying it – which unfortunately makes it more apt to be true 😞

    Donald Trump on Saturday hit back at claims he was considering his primary foe Nikki Haley as his running mate.

    The former president responded to a report Saturday that she would be in the running for the vice president slot — on the condition that she could work to free him if he’s imprisoned and would help pay his legal debts.

    The claims reportedly came from insiders in his campaign.

    But later Saturday, he posted on his Truth Social platform, “Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot,  but I wish her well!”

    rawstory.com/trump-haley-2668234514/

  43. 43.

    wjca

    The predictions I saw had the lights visible way south in the middle of the country.   But here on the left coast, less than 10% chance even at the California/Oregon border.  So what with suburban light polution, didn’t go out to look.

    This morning, neighbors saying the northern sky turned purple here in the suburban Bay Area.  Oops!  Must go out tonight, just in case.

  44. 44.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @zhena gogolia: I thought it was predicted to happen tonight rather than last night. I’m not real optimistic the weather conditions will enable viewing here in the DC area. The day started with a clear blue sky but it’s overcast now and supposed to rain this evening. Then a break for a couple hours before more rain from midnight to 4 AM. So clear skies don’t appear to be likely.

  48. 48.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @MomSense:

     

    @TaMara: I looked from Denver, and from Watkins, nothing. Out between 11 til 1. I didn’t see anything, except well  lit city streets and industries.

    Now I’m groggy and bleary eyed.

  50. 50.

    CaseyL

    (Re-upping from a previous thread)

    Seattle put on a great Northern Lights show last night!

    I went to Sunset Hill Park, which is basically a strip of lawn and trees on a bluff overlooking Shilshole Bay Marina. I figured it would have good visibility and I was not wrong.

    I also was not alone – I picked Sunset Hill in the hopes that not too many people other than the local residents even know about the place. That, I was wrong about! At least a couple hundred people were crammed onto that strip of lawn and trees, a fair percentage of them with cameras on tripods.

    It was a delight. At first we were all focused on a faint streak, pale in the sky over the water. People compared what colors they could see with what their cameras were picking up. Conversation cheerful if desultory.

    Then -THEN! – and all at once, it was like the entire sky lit up. From one faint little streak to streaks, banners, waves, covering half the sky. The crowd burst into spontaneous, simultaneous gasps, laughter, and “Oh my god!”s.

    Colors to the naked eye were still very faint, but the streaks, banners, and even stereotypical flowing curtain shapes were in fact very bright. Shifting so subtly yet quickly it was hard to comprehend. We were spellbound.

    It carried on like that for about an hour, by which point the entire sky had the kind of ambient brightness you get right after a fireworks display.

    I went home then (around midnight), though I think the show was supposed to last about another hour. But I think that first wave was the best!

  52. 52.

    cain

    Best birthday present ever ! Started around midnight for us here in Portland. Still hard to see had to use the cell phone.

    I’m told it will last weekend so I want another chance at it !

  54. 54.

    Spanky

    Supposed to rain all night down here in sunny Southern Maryland. Yay us.

    ETA I see that the latest forecast has POP down to 50%. Still gonna be overcast though.

  56. 56.

    Spanky

    @Jackie: We all look alike over here.

    Anyway, I haven’t seen any other candidate’s ads except for Dunn’s, but maybe these ratfuckers just decided to put all their ads on Fox.//

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    @Jackie:

    Quoting others:

    Trump could pick Haley if he were convinced she’d help him

    “I’ll make Oprah my vice president!”

    “TIFG is expected to pivot to the center”

    “TIFG became president today”

    “Yeah, he says shocking things, but that’s just for the rubes – we’ll be able to control him”

    Etc.

    History doesn’t exist. They have their script, and they’re running with it.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  59. 59.

    Spanky

    @TBone: Oh, this is just one of the juicy quotes in there:

    Still, he (Uncle Clarence) told his audience that he wished he had remained a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and that he “had no interest in public life” but felt called to it by God.

    I got nuthin’.

  61. 61.

    JPL

    @Spanky: If this weren’t a family friendly blog, I would print a few choice words.   what a ………………………………….

  63. 63.

    Cacti

    I saw online that good old Ann Coulter went on Vivek Ramaswamy’s podcast and straight up told him to his face that she wouldn’t vote for him because he’s Indian and the son of immigrants.

    And afterwards, he called her brave for basically telling him he was untermensch.

    I’ll never be in his place, so I’ll never understand his motivation to sacrifice his human dignity for the approval of the white supremacists. But damn, I felt embarrassed for him.

  64. 64.

    Kent

    I spent a decade living and working in Alaska so I’ve seen plenty of Northern Lights over the years. But it was cool to see them further south for once.

    What you don’t get from photos is how dynamic they are in real life.  Constantly pulsing and shifting shape and color.  It never quite looks the same in photos.

  66. 66.

    Kelly

    A song for the Northern Lights. The Night Rider’s Lament written by Michael Burton sung by Jerry Jeff Walker

    He asked me why do you ride for your money
    Why do you rope for short pay
    You ain’t getting’ nowhere
    And you’re losin’ your share
    Boy, you must have gone crazy out there
    But he’s never seen the Northern Lights
    Never seen a hawk on the wing
    He’s never seen Spring hit the Great Divide
    And never heard Ol’ Camp Cookie sing

    youtube.com/watch?v=3wOrfKtAK2Y&ab_channel=JerryJeffWalker-Topic

    Yesterday I not only saw the Northern Lights I saw a red tailed hawk dive onto some small critter in tall grass. Still haven’t seen the spring hit the Great Divide. I’ve occasionally been a singing camp cook.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: Harry Dunn is running for retiring Rep. John Sarbanes’ seat. The very blue district lies between DC and Baltimore, and includes Columbia and Ellicott City (I think). It’s a very crowded primary.

    My Virginia 7th CD has an open seat because Rep. Spanberger is leaving in order to run for Governor. There are several good candidates, but I’m pretty sure retired Army colonel Eugene Vindman will win the June primary. Vindman staged a “shock and awe” campaign launch last November that raised $1 million the first day. Now he’s up to $2 million and his nearest competitor has raised less than $150,000.

    Eugene Vindman has a national network backing him that includes the VoteVets organization. Among others, Adam Schiff and The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson posted endorsements that first day. So did Eugene’s more famous twin brother Alexander.

    The 7th CD runs from the Potomac River west to the Blue Ridge; most of its voters live along the I-95 corridor between Prince William County and Fredericksburg.

  69. 69.

    Scout211

    My son-in-law just sent me 6 photos of the Northern lights from outside of their home in western Washington.  Even with the neighborhood streetlights on, the photos were awesome.  I really need to stay up tonight to see them live.

  71. 71.

    Kent

    @Another Scott:

    Yes, Trump is absolutely not controllable.

    Which paradoxically is why I’m not quite as alarmed by that whole Project 2025 thing as some.

    The whole notion of remaking the Federal bureaucracy requires that you put lots of highly qualified and competent conservatives into key positions throughout the executive branch.  Trump isn’t going to do that because he actually doesn’t give a shit about some sort of conservative revolution.  He just wants power and revenge.  So he is liable to completely fuck up the DOJ but when it comes to agencies like the EPA or Interior or some such, he’s is more likely to put his caddy or golf buddies into positions of power than some young conservative Princetonians with Heritage Foundation bona fides or whatever.   Or leave those agencies rudderless with various lackeys in acting positions rather than confirmed positions.

    If he wins, I think there are a lot of conservative ideologies who will be hugely disappointed that they can’t control him either.  Remember, if you want to pass major regulations you pretty much need to get the ball rolling in your first year or two of office.  And you need to be staffed up to get the work done.  None of that is going to happen in the chaos of a new Trump Admin.

    Mind you I think a 2nd Trump Admin would be an absolutely disaster, especially internationally with respect to Europe, Russia, and Ukraine.  As well as democracy in general.  But I don’t think the doctrinaire conservatives will be able to control him either.  Especially because he will be one and done and won’t need them anymore.

  75. 75.

    JWR

    @TBone:

    You can respectfully reason your way out of trouble – at least out of parking violations – with a fellow countryman; I’ve done it dozens of times in my life… — Connor Clegg

    “Dozens of times?” Wow, I’ve never “reasoned” my way out of any ticket, nor have I tried. I guess I’ve not been using my Whitest of White skin to it’s fullest extent.

    PS. I have thanked that same skin for getting me safely home at 2AM w/out any tail or brake lights. Cops rolled up beside me, I told him I was just a few blocks from home, he growled that I should buy a whole damn new car, and that was that. Lucky me.

  76. 76.

    Martin

    @Kent: The problem with him not caring about the shape of the federal government is he doesn’t care about the shape of the federal government. So long as Heritage can identify people who will be unwaveringly loyal to Trump, they’ll be able to do whatever the fuck they want overseeing these agencies. The only position he’ll *actually* care about is the AG to make his legal problems go away.

    His agenda is so transparent and so simple, that it shouldn’t be hard to capture the federal government via his appointments.

  77. 77.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Kent:

    Respectfully disagree. Trump will allow the radical right-wingers to reshape the federal government because he does not care about anything like that. He doesn’t need to manage it.

    There are already a host of the radicals who have plans and names of people they want to put in place. They are on record as saying the problem with the first Trump administration was that they didn’t go hard enough.

  78. 78.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    As far as aurora activity here in Southern California, I did a search of the Google and found a shot from Mt. Wilson(not great) and one from Victorville that was pretty good

    ETA: Just looked at the Explorers of the Mojave Desert FB page, wow!  One person shot at the Red Cliff(one of my favorite shooting sites) and the aurora was amazing balls.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    I didn’t stay up. It was cloudy in the evening, and we had some random batshit hail, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to see it. But I was wrong, and everyone’s pictures are awesome and envy-inducing.

  80. 80.

    TBone

    @Spanky: I got plenty but am so sleep deprived (not from a light show, we had cloudy skies) that I hesitate to put my words into text today because I’m feeling vicious.  Better not to say anything right now.  But I’m sure I’ll put something into comments about this soon, especially as we hear more about what these fucking guys said at the fucking 5th Circuit gala 🤬

  82. 82.

    cope

    @cmorenc: I’m in The Ridges and took a look at bedtime last night (10) and didn’t see anything either, same poor looking conditions.  I’ll give it a shot again tonight but much later, when I make one of my nighttime pee trips

     

    ETA Walt Kelly’s Aurora poem.

    Oh, roar a roar for Nora,
    Nora Alice in the night.
    For she has seen Aurora
    Borealis burning bright.

    A furore for our Nora!
    And applaud Aurora seen!
    Where, throughout the summer,
    Our Borealis been?

  83. 83.

    TBone

    @JWR: I would have towed his car to the nearest “sketchy” part of town and hacked it for parts on the spot.

  86. 86.

    JWR

    @Jackie:

    Is Nikki about to stab her supporters in the back?

    Magic 8 Ball says probably. And if Trump is smart, he’ll pick her.

    Hey, I said if.

  87. 87.

    karen marie

    @Another Scott: I will always have a small soft spot in my heart for Indiana. I stayed at a small motel there one night on my drive from MA to AZ, and they had a free, serve-yourself breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits. I’d never had it before but grabbed a bowl to eat after loading the cat back in the car and walking the dog. OMG! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME BEFORE THEN?

    I make it myself now and then, freezing it in servings to pull out on random mornings. So good!

  88. 88.

    Tazj

    Last night was a night I was actually grateful for Twitter. I was about to go to bed and had forgotten about the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights, when I saw other people’s pictures. They were mostly taken from backyards, so I decided to step outside myself.
    At first I thought, I don’t see a darn thing! I checked Twitter again and people had posted to take pictures first, and to stay outside for a while to let your eyes adjust because for most people in suburbia it could be quite faint to the naked eye. I took the advice and got a few decent if not great pictures. Cool experience and something I never expected to see from my backyard.

  89. 89.

    RaflW

    @TBone: Aha, the white guy privilege isn’t working right, poor thing: “You can respectfully reason your way out of trouble … with a fellow countryman; I’ve done it dozens of times in my life.”

    Boo hoo. I doubt Fox will fire him for this, but in a reasonable world, he’d be out on his ear.

  90. 90.

    Spanky

    @cope:
    The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
          But the queerest they ever did see
    Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
          I cremated Sam McGee.

  94. 94.

    TaMara

    @TBone: I have yet to be able to read any article on these links. The website is super glitchy and the page constantly disappears as I try to read. Is there somewhere else to read? Thanks.

  95. 95.

    sab

    Eclipse in April, aurora borealis in May. And many those who didn’t get the total eclipse did get the best northern lights view. Things to be cheery about.

    I love where I live but we have big trees blocking the view of everything else,

    In our search for northern lights my husband did finally get to see the Milky Way, which cannot be seen in town. But the country around here has big trees, so not much of a view of anything close to the horizon. That little sliver of moon was cool. I saw it as very yellow. Cataracts?

  97. 97.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @TaMara:

    We couldn’t see a thing from where we are in Denver.  If it’s not cloudy tonight (forecast doesn’t offer hope), we might drive east on I-70 for a bit and see if we see anything.

  98. 98.

    JWR

    @TaMara: Me too. I’ve been able (lately) to view Raw Story, and occasionally Crooks & Liars, but those two are always iffy for me.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    @sab: When the moon is a thin crescent, you mostly see it very near the horizon when it’s just rising or setting (setting in this case), and it’s shining through a lot of atmosphere that scatters the blue wavelengths away, leaving it yellow.

  103. 103.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Tazj: Seeing it from my light-polluted neighborhood, the aurora at first just looked like stray clouds or haze with city lights shining on it, and it was only in photographs that I could tell it had the characteristic red-purple color of an aurora. Later on, the green curtains and ribbons started to appear, and those had an appearance that was more obviously novel to the unaided eye.

  106. 106.

    TBone

    @TaMara: I don’t think so. Digby’s Hullabaloo and Crooksandliars are both free websites.  I use Duck Duck Go as my browser and never have a problem anywhere, even YouTube is ad free for first view.

    I’ve never heard any of my other peeps say they had any trouble viewing those, I’m kinda mystified.

    ETA Digby linked to a WaPo article about Clarence, but that is pay walled.

  108. 108.

    Shana

    Watching my younger daughter graduate from law school. She got engaged last Saturday and closes on a house next Friday. Whew

  110. 110.

    S Cerevisiae

    I could see the lights dancing faintly, green waves and rays coming and going but washed out by the overall glow of Minneapolis (we are less than a mile from downtown in northeast).

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