You know when one can sit on the foot of their bed, beverage in hand, dog curled up on the other side and watch the Northern Lights from inside the bedroom window when it's -2 degrees outside, life is good.

That’s amazing. I’ve only seen them once.

Dumb question - is it really bright in the yard or is actually pretty dark and the the camera is just very sensitive and making it look bright? Someday, when I can travel again, I hope to see the Lights.

The OP can give more details on this particular photo, but a lot of aurora pictures are time exposures lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. Maybe longer. During that time, objects in the foreground tend to be illuminated by city glow, star/moon light, or whatever. That illumination is a cumulative thing, it adds up over the duration of the exposure. Point light sources, like the street light in the lower right, tend to become very intense.

It’s just a simple iPhone picture. Foreground appears illuminated due to the street lights in my neighborhood, you can see one in the lower left corner or the photo. It’s rare when I can actually see the Aurora this bright in my neighborhood because of all the light pollution.