Light of Mystery

It's been 15 days since I last saw the Northern Lights, and my enthusiasm and fascination about it has not changed. 

I continue to watch the Aurora video every morning to see what happened the night before.  Was it cloudy in Yellowknife last night?  Did it rain?  Was there any Aurora activity?  How strong was it?  Was it covered by thick clouds?  I then would check my email for yellow and red Aurora alerts of the day...  I have to say, it's been a mentally exhausting 15 days, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it, wondering about it and dreaming about it -- dreaming about me under the colorful skies watching the northern lights dancing -- no one bothers me, no one rushes me, I can just spend the entire night quietly enjoying it.

I have recreated the beautiful slides plotting out statistics on Aurora activities -- based on 4-year trending data, by month, by day... At this point, my addiction to Northern Lights is totally out of control!!

Then, I secretly told myself -- if I don't go to Yellowknife with my family next time, I would take a solo trip to stay there for 2-3 weeks -- just to make sure I catch enough good days to see everything.  Until then, please enjoy the Light of Mystery I collected 3 weeks ago.

Yellowknife, Canada

September 15, 2016

My Open Letter to Millennials via Facebook

Dear Millennials,

As you get ready to cast your vote for this historic election in November, please exercise rational thinking and objective judgement. Only one of the two candidates will become the next President. If you have trouble judging who would have the ability to lead our country to prosperity, try to think about who would cause less damage to our great nation -- a country where freedom, democracy and diversity is truly valued and respected.

Can we really accept a person who is lacking human decency at so many levels to be our next President? Can we even bring ourselves to remotely think about voting for the third-party candidate who is so clueless about both domestic and foreign policies?

Honestly, in recent years, I have become increasingly numb about politics. However, the current political craziness has exceeded my tolerance level to let things go… So, I am sharing my two cents in hope that you would think long and hard before casting your important vote.

Respectfully,
Dr. Michelle’s Mom

28 years...

Today marks the 28th anniversary of my life in America -- what a wonderful journey!!

Yes, every place on earth has its flaws.  However, comparing to many other places in the world, in my view, America is a great country. 

I am thankful for having the guts to drop everything 28 years ago to come here all by myself; I am thankful for having the opportunities to chase my dreams; I am thankful for meeting so many wonderful people on my journey and making so many great friends...  And most importantly, I am truly thankful for raising Michelle here and giving her a chance to pursue her passion and realize her dreams!

The interview below still holds true, after all these many years.  Michelle did it for a school project when she was only 10 years old...

Life is good and precious.  Cherish and enjoy it fully.

 

By Michelle Zhang

2/25/2001

 

For this report, I interviewed my mother who immigrated to this country from China.  She, like most other immigrants, came here for more opportunities to be successful in her career.  She also wanted to provide a better life for her future children. 

 

She came here in 1988 as a graduate student.  Right before the trip to America, she was a graduate student in Beijing.  Her life was not as bad as some immigrants because she knew some English.  In her high school in China, she was taught the American Language.  She was a little scared of her new life she'd have to start.  She didn't know anyone and only had $45.  After the first few weeks, she came to realize that people here were open and friendly.   

 

Fortunately, she did not experience any racism and prejudice.  She made many American friends at her job and they all respect her a great deal.  She says she likes America because you have all kinds of opportunities, and if you work hard, you are sure to succeed.

 

Sky Dancers

It's hard to describe how I felt when I saw Northern Lights dancing in the sky for the first time in my life.  The experience was far more dramatic than I ever anticipated.  It was more than magical, more than spectacular, more than many things I've experienced in life... 

Yellowknife, Canada

September 11, 2016 (around 1am)

Desert Nightly Skies

As promised, I am delivering the Milky Way shots -- not one, not two, but three.

I've been thinking about these rocks ever since I came back from Grand Teton, where I got up at 3AM on two separate nights to take the Milky Way shots. When I came home and showed the photos to experienced photographers, they told me that Milky Way photos without a foreground were worthless!  

So, I spent the past 3 months thinking about a foreground, drove 6 hours to find it and took another 8 hours to get these 2 images... Hope the effort was worthwhile, and there is still so much more to learn and to explore.

Lone Pine, California

September 3, 2016

Summer Death Valley Reflections

Tagging onto a business trip, I stopped by Lone Pine, California this weekend.  Purpose?  To take 1 Milky Way shot with the Mobius Arch.  It was supposed to be a 4-hour drive.  But I went through Death Valley, took my time to experience summer in Death Valley...  so it easily turned into a 6-hour ordeal. 

I've been to Death Valley many times, but this was the first time I came here in the summer.  If the name "Death Valley" never reminded me of "death" before, it certainly did this time.  As I drove through the entire valley, the summer heat and strong dry wind was overwhelming.  The massive piece of empty, dry, hot land spelled out the obvious truth to me -- loud and clear -- if you ever get into trouble under this type of condition, Death would no longer be a rare event!!

During the long drive, there was one time I went from below sea level to 5000 ft. and then back down to the sea level all within 30 minutes...  Somewhere in the middle of the desert, I passed this tiny little town called Keeler with a population of 505 -- makes you wonder how these 505 people live their lives... If you google this place, the population in 2010 was 66, and there was actually a magnitude 3.5 earthquake last night... How crazy!  Inside of my car, Rick Wakeman's Preludes to A Century was playing the whole time, providing me with a sense of normalcy. 

I usually stop by Panamint Valley every time when I come visit Death Valley.  This may be one of the very few places on earth that allows you to experience the true quietness.  As you walk toward the middle of the old lake bed, you are in a massive open place, but you hear nothing -- absolutely NOTHING!  You are living, breathing, absorbing the sunlight and warm winds, but the entire world around you is totally muted -- just imagine that!!

Attached are 2 of the many photos I took of Panamint Valley.  The first one was from January 2013.  The second one was from today.  It's amazing how the texture of the valley changes ALL the time. 

For the 2nd photo, if you zoom in, about 1/4 from the left, on the straight brown line, there was a tiny little white dot.  That was my car parking on the side of the road -- the one and only car out there!!  It really shows you how tiny and insignificant we humans are!!

The photography session at Mobius Arch was fun.  I got there around 4pm and did not get back to the hotel until after midnight. Hopefully I will be able to send you that ONE precious shot at some point -:))