Trout and Northern Lights

Mike's been doing a lot of ice fishing lately - and the fish are cooperating! Here's a nice mess of brook trout he caught the other day (and made me hold for him). The weather's been great for ice fishing - he's planning to go out again tomorrow.

I got an e-mail this week from Dr. Charles Deehr at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute telling me that "no, he hasn't forgotten me." I hadn't heard from him in a couple years. Dr. Deehr offers a wonderful e-mail alert service that gives subscribers notice when solar flares are active - so that we can predict when the Northern Lights are likely to appear. He says that the first solar flares of the new solar cycle are beginning to produce auroral activity - and that while he's not predicting any Northern Lights right now, "it's good to know the sun is awake again." So... maybe we'll have Northern Lights dancing above our heads this summer - and since I haven't been "forgotten or dropped from the list" I'll be able to tell our guests when Dr. Deehr thinks they'll appear!

The Institute has a wonderful website, by the way, at www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast .