The Northern Lights put on a spectacular show near us this evening as evident from all the incredible photos that lined my Facebook feed. I took a quick peek outside to see if we were lucky enough to have a view of the light from our front or back porch. No such luck. Not sure if it’s just that there are too many lights nearby that clouded the view or too many trees overshadowing the glorious pinks and purples and greens visible from so many other vantage points.
I don’t consider myself a spontaneous person. My husband. Yes. Me? I need a plan, made in advance, calculating in travel time, time to request shoes be donned for what feels like 40 minutes (depending on the day), copious amount of snacks, several extra layers of clothing knowing that they’ll never be worn because they are apparently impervious to cold at this age, something to sip on (which will inevitably lead to additional requests for bathroom breaks stops) and a reminder for nature pees (something I never thought I’d say before becoming a parent) before actually getting into the car. So spontaneity is not my strong suit. It is something that I would like to get better at, so I thought tonight would be an ideal jump into the very shallow end of the pool. Maybe like jumping into the shallow end of the baby pool. But again, baby steps. Nothing like spontaneity with a plan, right?
After seeing countless more photos of the incredible night sky and recognizing there was simply no way to step out of the house to take part in the experience, I jumped at the chance for a bit of spontaneity. I asked our youngest if he wanted to go on a late night adventure. I called it late night since it was about 10 minutes before the commencement of our normal 8pm bedtime routine. I explained it was to try and see the Northern Lights (something we’ve discussed with the boys previously so he had some idea of what I was talking about). No explanation needed. He was in. I quickly ran upstairs to see if our oldest wanted to join. He had a bit of a bellyache so he opted to hang out with dad at home.
With only one request for shoes under my belt, our youngest had slippers on his feet and we were sneaking out for our adventure. From the second we got in the car, he was so excited that we were throwing caution to the wind and blowing right past bedtime. He wanted to know exactly what time it was, so he could ensure we were in fact breaking all the rules by going out past bedtime.
I headed towards one of the areas that seemed to have a clear view of the show. It was only a 10-15 minute drive away from our home. The whole way over, we chatted about his day (which is typically like pulling teeth), called out the fabulous Halloween decorations we passed and pondered whether big brother would be in bed when we got home since it was already past bedtime. We weren’t far into the drive before I realized we had missed the mark and the opportunity to be able to see anything. But I carried on anyways, because we were having such a fantastic time together.
When we hit our destination point and again it was clear we were now on a hunt for Halloween decor rather than a painted sky, we turned around. We happened to turn around in a Wendy’s parking lot. My sweet little monkey butt announced that he was still very disappointed that they had changed their recipe. He was referring to the fact that they now use sesame as an ingredient in certain items, so their kid’s meals are no longer safe for our oldest. Friday nights are takeout nights (a tradition started during Covid) and every once in a while the kids would pick Wendy’s. It seems like such a minor comment, but to me it was so indicative of his awareness of his brother’s allergies and a recognition of how what may seem like small changes to some can be really big for us. A little comment that meant a lot. And again one that would not have happened without our late night adventure.
On our drive home, a certain street caught his eye as it apparently had a plethora of Halloween decorations. I did not see the Halloween lights and inevitably missed the street by the time he brought it to my attention. My normal course of action would be to say we will check it out next time we are in the area or something along those lines. Normal course of action be damned tonight. I flipped the car around – and by that, I mean I found a very responsible and safe place to reverse our direction so we could take a jaunt down this street.
Totally worth it. It was a small, off-the-main-drag street and the first house had several of those giant 12-foot tall skeletons/pumpkin head creatures. So we paused (ensuring that there were no cars behind us and that we were not holding up traffic in any way, shape or form) and took in all the decorations together. Called out little details that are not visible when quickly driving by. Noticed parts of the giant skeletons we’ve never seen before. He even mentioned that since the 12 foot skeletons are $300, he was sure that the one that looked like a pumpkin skeleton was $302 because there were more details on that one. I love hearing how their brains work sometimes. And when our observations drew to a close, we turned around once again and began the last leg of our short journey home.
With many more Halloween decorations to point out on the last few minutes of our drive and a hope that the following night would bring a view of the Northern Lights, I enjoyed every last moment of those 30 minutes together.
And while we were unsuccessful in seeing those colors dancing across the sky, my jaunt into spontaneity is something I am definitely going to keep up. That time with him in the car was far more precious and wonderful that I anticipated. They may not be every day or even every week necessarily, but spontaneous, late night adventures will be part of our lives moving forward. I’m so glad that one of our monkeys jumped at the chance tonight and hopefully big brother will feel better for the next one.
Too Much Laundry, Not Enough Wine 