Our oldest son Owen is a student at Northern Michigan University, a public institution of approximately 7,000 students. It is located in the largest town in the Upper Peninsula, Marquette. It is 46.5 degrees latitude north and located on the south shore of Lake Superior. Owen rarely sends us photos and videos so I was delighted when he sent photos of the “northern lights” (Aurora Borealis). An aurora is a disturbance caused by solar winds in the magnetosphere resulting in brilliant lights in the night sky. The word aurora is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, “Aurora” who traveled from east to west announcing the coming of the Sun. They are usually seen closer to the poles, at 67 degrees north and south. However, during solar storms, they spread out and can be seen at lower altitudes. Last week they put on a spectacular show and Owen went out to Presque Isle Park, just outside of town and snapped these photos overlooking Lake Superior.
Owen also attended the Michigan State versus Northern Michigan University (NMU) basketball game in Nothern’s Superior Dome. Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo had his jersey retired by NMU. He played for NMU in the late 1970s. The exhibition game attracted 11,000 people and was kind of a celebration of the Upper Peninsula. The Division 1 Spartans defeated the Wildcats 70-53. Above is a photo of the scene.
Finally, we had a rare few days of cool rain this week. Tashkent has a climate similar to northern Arizona so it is refreshing to have a grey, miserable, rainy stretch of weather. It was nice to take a nap on the top chan in our back garden and watch the rain come down.
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