We’ve come all the way to Sweden to see the northern lights, yet our goal is something we can’t control.

Abisko is located 200 km above the Arctic Circle in a rain shadow adjacent to a huge national park, making it one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights.  The experience is similar to going on a wildlife safari – it should be a slam-dunk to see the thing you’re supposed to see, but when it comes to nature, nothing is guaranteed.

If we could somehow bottle the Aurora and bring it home, all of us would all file into a theater and pay the $7.50 admission for the privilege of viewing captured nature.  But like going to the zoo, it wouldn’t feel special.  Like a zoo, we’d appreciate it to a point, but it would feel kind of fake.

I’ve noticed that when you have to have to work for something, be it climbing a trail to reach a panorama, or getting seasick on your way to seeing humpback whales, the experience can be uncomfortable, inconvenient and often expensive.  But you also appreciate it a lot more.  The payoff is almost always worth the effort.

The northern lights aren’t a celestial souvenir that can be bought at a price.  There’s a risk that they simply won’t show up, so when they do, the ensuing adrenaline and excitement can make you act stupid (like running into sub zero weather without gloves). My biggest mistake in these situations, is getting so consumed with photographing whatever it is I’m chasing that I forget to remember the experience.

I once spent two days in Australia looking for cassowaries (a colorful, flightless 6 foot tall bird that looks like an ostrich) and when I finally stumbled upon one, I frantically fumbled with my camera to record the event.  But by the time I got the damn thing to focus, the bird was gone.  I completely failed to absorb the moment and I’ve regretted it ever since.

So when Amanda and I witnessed the aurora borealis this week, I had to force myself to slow down and actually watch the rippling lights as they shimmered across the sky. I tried to burn small details into my long-term memory (even if it was during 15 second exposures) and here are a few of the details I’m going to do my best to remember for the rest of my life:

1. They shape shift in seconds – changing from thick green lines to shimmering curtains in the time it takes to flip a coin.
2. The northern lights seem solid but they’re also transparent – you can often see stars through them.
3. The way the lights rippled when they were directly overhead made me feel like I was a fish and God was dangling His fingers in the water to get my attention.
4. If a thunderstorm were made of light, the aurora would be the kind of rain that falls in sheets on a hot day and evaporates before hitting the ground.
5. Witnessing the northern lights is one of the few experiences that will make a tall white guy from Seattle unabashedly dance in the snow and whoop with joy.

If you’re fortunate enough to make it to the far north in the winter, click HERE for a cool aurora forecast that will let you know how active they’ll be on a given day.