The Aurora Won't Wait

The northern lights reminded us that the best parts of nature can’t be planned, only witnessed.

On the evening of November 11, 2025 most of us in the lower 48 and Canada were able to witness one of nature’s greatest displays. The sun hurled something big our way, a powerful coronal mass ejection. These waves of charged particles collided with Earth’s magnetic field, scattering the bits of sun far and wide. When that field bends and stretches enough, the energy spills into lower latitudes, painting the sky with light usually reserved for the farthest reaches toward the poles. They made the trek through hundreds of millions of miles of space, and had enough energy to show us their art in a magnificent way.

Like many, I ventured outside a couple of times during the evening hours. Able to see it well from my backyard, I stood and watched, as the colors shifted from pinks to the pale green it is commonly known for. On occasion, the ribbons would become clear and sharp, making the dancing bands across the starry backdrop. But just for the handful of minutes it was present. It wasn’t long before the ribbons began to recede, the colors merged and it faded to more of a mist over the horizon. Peaking and fading without warning, only if you were present would you catch it. As the night wore on, they would recede further from view before disappearing. As if it was never there at all. There is no assurance it will return to Colorado skies again, with the only remaining possibility to see it being a journey of thousands of miles to witness one of nature’s most incredible performances.

The moment could only be described, as fleeting.

We live to chase fleeting moments.

When’s the last time you saw a full and clear rainbow? Or a truly breath taking sunset? The kind of view which makes you stop for a moment, maybe even two, and just stand in awe of what nature is unfolding in front of you? Rainbows especially require the right combination of sunlight, water droplets in the air, and even timing to be seen at their most brilliant. Likewise, you can sit outside dozens of times, and wait for the sun to go down. And yet, there are happenings wildly out of your control that will dictate whether or not the conditions are right to produce that magical kind event. The kind when the transaction of night and day becomes transformational. The process becomes an exaggeration of color and hue. Where the landscape beneath it, glows in a way it never has before. The shadows cast longer, and grow as the impending dusk gets closer. The clouds change to pinks and oranges, tones nature only saves for the most spectacular. And the sky reflects the brilliance of this world back. The rarity of this type of sunset is one to be enjoyed. It isn’t something to try and capture, to save for later.

This is what a true fleeting moment is. Something that requires your presence to fully behold. Because nothing will be able to acutely contain that exceptional moment. It determines when it arrives, and when it departs. And after it makes its grand exit there is no encore. And there is no predicting of when it will return to astound us again. You can’t buy a ticket for it, make it, or plan around when it will happen. It just happens, and you need to be ready to be in it for as long as it will allow.

For some reason we lost the idea of what that really means. We have begun to think of it more as those gigantic once in a lifetime events. The ones we are advertised that “can’t be missed”. Be it a concert, production or some other happening that was manufactured into existence. We are compelled to have FOMO, and if we aren’t apart of the next event that happens, we are somehow losing something important. Even if a similar event will happen shortly after, or that same event happens multiples times in a row. These moments might feel as though they are “fleeting”, but they don’t truly capture the essence of what that truly implies.

We should have a fear of missing out. But not for the grand spectacle. For the moments that can pass effortlessly. The ones that once they are gone, we want to cling to. We should try to get as many as we can, for as long as we can. Not the ones that can be created again, but the ones that are truly fleeting. Like that blip of a moment a sunset is in perfect balance of brilliant like and magnificent color. Drinking up its splendor because there will never be another one like that in that moment. The sun might set the next day, but there is no guarantee of its ability to wonder or amaze. The same to say for the sun rise and it starting a new day.

Nature provides more than just moments of an ethereal view. Even with ourselves, with the moments of clarity and calmness that can only be achieved when we make an effort to let the rest of the world slip away. When the silence of the trail drowns out the noise of our lives. We are only in the present, and given a clear view into our own selves, seeing what only nature can reveal. These moments arrive at their leisure, and often leave with haste. We then long for moments like that again, and wonder if we can re-create those perfect conditions needed for them to return. If even possible.

To play the odds in our own favor.

This doesn’t mean going into nature or moments with the intent to make them all magical. Or trying to create the conditions ourselves to produce the kind of moment you want to be in forever. There are far too many factors outside of our control that can affect it. Warping it from our expectation to the stark reality of what is. Instead, it is simply to let the moment be. To take ourselves into nature with the intent of purely being in nature. Fighting the urge to create something out of nothing. That every hike needs to be exceptional, or every trip out needs to be titled epic. Rather just to go for the walk, or the trip that gets us out even if it is local. It is better to make the effort to be present in every one of these moments. To do our best to cancel out the distraction and just let ourselves be immersed in our surroundings.

Because when we are in those moments, we might find many of them to be fleeting.

They may not all be the most spectacular type of moment (the epic sunset type of moment) but they are nonetheless fleeting. When we are present we can still appreciate it for exactly what it is, and who we were in the moment with. When it comes to making the most of our time in nature, these are the ones we should be particularly deliberate about. Because these are the ones we live for. We should go out with the intent to be present and soak up every last bit of it. These are the types of moments we should be afraid to miss. Because these are the moments that make up most of our time in the natural world. The ones that last for minutes alone. The ones we tend to take for granted, that if we do miss them we expect them to be there the next day. But those are often the ones we long for once they pass, waiting for the conditions to be just right to happen again. Hoping they can be replicated when we want it. But those moments can’t be, they stand alone and happen independently from our control. They pass at their own choosing. They dissipate into the air like the final remnants of the northern lights, or colorful bands of the rainbow. Peaking for minutes, before they slip away.

So we should look to be in all these types of moments. From the simple walk to the longest trek. Let ourselves experience each of them to their fullest. Not just to try and save it for later, but to feel everything the moment has to offer.

So that is what we remember.