Views like this have been few and far between, it seems. This summer has been cloudy. cool, windy…not exactly what one would expect from June on the plains. I’ve made a trip or two to Double Ditch in vain already this year, and the short term forecast doesn’t look good.

I always joke that I single-handedly extinguished the sun by purchasing a camera for astrophotography; when I got my first camera, I had a very short run of Northern Lights before the sun went dormant. Scientists have been scratching their heads, wondering why there haven’t been any sunspots! I think I know why.

Now that I have another new camera, I can joke that the skies have conspired against me…this time with clouds and cold temperatures. NASA is predicting the sun is going to awaken from its solar minimum in spectacular fashion, creating some amazing aurora borealis I presume, but will the clouds even let us see them? Only time will tell. If not, just call me a jinx!