Chasing light

I was busy putting up the Christmas tree, whilst being serenaded (of sorts) by James with his guitar - can't beat a live concert in your living room - when I checked twitter.  This isn't something that normally results in me becoming giddy with excitement, but on this occasion, my giddy levels peaked!

About 2 hours ago, we were on the receiving end of a geomagnetic storm at KP7 / KP8 - which essentially means that the potential for seeing aurora in our location was much higher than usual.  After tea, the excitement became too much for me and so Corin kindly bundled me in the van, with my camera, tripod and a couple of head torches and we headed for high ground with a northerly aspect.(To be clear - I was allowed to sit in the cab - he didn't throw me into the back and slide the door shut ominously!)

The high ground ended up being the "Dream" installation in Sutton Weaver.

Sadly, no naked eye aurora - the lights of Manchester and a gloriously bright moon were against us.  However, a 30 second exposure meant the giant head was set beautifully against the northern sky.

It was worth it just for that.  That, and spending an hour doing something out of the ordinary with my awesome hubster.  

Today is a 'sort of' anniversary...to be honest, I don't need an anniversary to tell me how lucky I am.