In the Spring of 1963 my father called us out of our split-level ranch house in the Blue Hills south of Boston. He excitedly pointed to the sky. My brothers, sisters, mother, and I scanned the night for UFOs and I was the first to spot the reason for us standing on the lawn in our pajamas.

Candy colored light curved to the North. The majesty of its beauty silenced us. Other families stood outside in awe of this phenomena and my father said with a humbled voice, “That’s the northern lights.”

“The Aurora Borealis.” My mother hadn’t been to college, but the nuns had instructed her in the glory of the heavens. “Plasma hit the magnetic poles at the speed of light.”

“Is that fast?” We hadn’t gotten to the speed of light at Our Lady of the Foothills.

“Almost four million miles an hour.” My father was an electrical engineer. He had a good head for calculations.

“Faster than a speeding bullet,” my older brother said with his eyes wide open.

“A lot faster than that.” I imagined that I could hear the forces of the cosmos sizzling in the sky. Being near-sighted I had better-than-average hearing.

The solar flares disappeared from the night and we returned to our beds.

I could hear my mother and father in the next room.

They were very much in love.

1963 was fifty years ago and I’ve only seen the Northern Lights once since then.

Tonight might be the third time I’ve witnessed the celestial phenomena, for the astronomers are predicting a high atmosphere light show for tonight.

TAccuweather’s Hunter Outten has been updating this latest aurora borealis watch on the company’s Facebook page. At 3:35 p.m., he wrote: “Still have not seen any key signs yet of the CME close to hitting the planet. Looks like the time is shaping up right on schedule for anywhere from 5-9PM EDT.”

The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth.

The CME or Coronal Mass Ejection can cover that distance in twenty-three hours.

The clock is ticking.

I will be ready with my beer goggles.