Goodbye Sunshine, 2011

...it went from this, when it was impossible to escape the suns rays

To this moment, when we celebrate its departure, for two months...

(Pollfjellet summit, 1213m, the town of Skibotn seen in distance, below)

Sun Season Over

Oh! Those bare, stoney grey hills of Kvaløya, towering over their mountain lakes and marshes... All is now decked with snow. (Now, IF you were a small plant up there, you would be no doubt be reflecting: "oh, here we go again"... ). Rivers and streams are iceing up, and physically slowing down.

In Tromsø, the streets are also becoming rather less busy. I think that is a real sign of summer: people strolling casually about, in town. Time to waste, and Vitamin D to absorb - you can't spend enough time engaged in this activity, up here. And no one thinks on it as a waste of time either - everyone agrees with the importance of Summer Sun Worship.

On Sunday, the sun left us for its - shall we say - winter holiday for two months. The town almost sighs audibly with relief - the memory of the manic pressure of the midnight sun fades right away. Tourists are fewer, and locals are less inclined to crowd the streets, loitering and recalling the time of day whilst they soak up the suns rays. (It suddenly got too cold and wet to do this). As the street buskers start to look a bit chilly, it's indoor party time now ;)

So...it's the pre-snow ICEY season starting. At this time of the year, I think about how difficult it must be to be an eldery person, up here. You have to be very, very careful how you walk, and very, very determined to get outside! But you manage.

Summer was like a tonic to us. And those seemingly endless hours of sunlight have set us up, and prepared our systems to manage the next two months. And, oh! for the beautiful, blue-light of winter. The quietness of new snow, and the palette of dawn and dusk colours....

(...ah!...once the ICEY season is over ;))

(can you spot the Norwegian troll climbing up the mountainside in this picture ;) ???)

Snow is in the air...

Yes! Many kilometres and many hours of geese-counting now behind me, autumn now here, and winter approaching. The days are drawing in - fast. You see the difference in the the light daily. But it's great to have cooler weather, (the dog appreciates it, at any rate...) and I am really looking forward to winter now (compared to 'sort-of-not' a few weeks back).

We have had fresh snow at 800m recently. I was in the National Park, hiking with Dovre, the other weekend. Ah! Nothing quite a magical as fresh snow on the peaks, striking autumn sunlight, blueberries for breakfast, and snow flurries in the air....

Empty roads and geese on my mind

After months of 'not very much work at all' since Christmas, I have - finally - recently been working around the clock (or so it felt at times!) - surveying greylag geese in Finnmark and Troms counties. The round trip from Tromsø is about 2000 km. So, this means hour of driving on near-empty roads (I swear one day I saw only 2 cars in 2 hours of driving...) with an agitated dog in the back of the vehicule.

It also means outstanding northern landscape to admire, and very nice places to camp out. It's been work the time and effort.

.... and surveying on empty roads is just as well, considering I have only just now found out the all-important road regulation to "give way to the right" here in Norway. Ah well! Not bad to learn the highway code here after a mere three years of driving here....

(crikey)

The secret to a long and happy life?

It's maintained by some that the true secret of health, happiness, and hence a long life is, above all, the beneficial value of good sleep. (Other properties such as personal financial wealth and which country you are from are probably less important than we place value on). In the sleep department, huskies have an unrivaled sleeping ability, I really think... There must be great benefits to being able to snooze soundly for hours at a time - after all, noise and disturbance is to a minimum, once you stop fidgeting and the drifting snow is firmly in place. Warm, comfortable and quiet. That must be beneficial to your immune system and health...

Enjoy the photos! And remember what's important :)

Introducing the Alaska husky - an adaptable breed: able to sleep whenever and wherever...

...forest understory is pretty darn comfy, but decked under snow shouldn't be underrated either! ;)

A good way to live, don't you think?

My Easter

Easter in the UK is etched in my memory as camping on the Devonshire coast, cold mornings and sunny afternoons, (oh, and pub lunches, in between sandwiches gritty with sand, consumed on the beach). Flowers. Grass. Lambs in the fields. You know - that sort of thing.

On Easter Sunday this year it was quite different. Mostly alpine. Not a lot of beach around.

Mind you, it was still undeniably 't-shirt weather' and not without sunburn! (...and believe it or not, the sea is only a few kilometres down the valley)

Norwegianisms

...Skiing At Easter Time. snow or no snow.

Plan B: making a fire in the pine forest

(when the snow is noticeably absent, hence pulking is not an option...)

Window Poetry II

Dovre and I.... Part 2

The classic transformation from snowball to husky....

Dovre and I

Have I ever introduced you to Dovre, my fine four legged friend? Hehe. Most likely!

I'm proud to be his owner, in his (active) retirement! He's an ex-racing husky, which means he participated several times *we are not sure how many, but think it was 8!* as one of the two leader dogs, at the front of the pack in the team of Tove Sorenson, in Finnmarksløpet, the world's most Northerly dogsled race. (http://www.finnmarkslopet.no). This meant he helped steer the course for a team of 12 dogs, covering 1000km over a 10-day race. It's a wild race, and I guess you have to like a bit of snow in your face at times to complete this, and not just give up and 'park-up' (stop running). As snow in your face can feel like sand in your face at times, (hence why military helicopter training for Afghanistan takes place in N Norway) this must be hard on the dogs, and you have to have a willing and keen canine to keep up the team momentum.

I adopted Dovre in his ageing years from my great friends, Ane and Jan, who had acquired him from his previous owners a few years back. He was working for them, pulling sledges with tourists on long winter trips in the mountains. Nowadays he no longer pulls sledges for a 'job', but instead pulls me. I seem to have progressed a little since my early days of skiing with dogs (see previous posting:http://helenjewell.blogspot.com/2008/12/skiing-with-dogs.html )

-these days I mostly faceplant only on the downhill phase!!! ;)

Huskies are practical dogs to own here in Norway, as the many great winter huts in the mountains and backcountry do not normally permit dogs inside. (Its an allergies thing!.....). So, this works well with a dog with a thick winter jacket like Dovre, who is used to sleeping in a snowball outside. You just chain him up outdoors, and he sleeps like a king! Going on hut trips = no problemo!

So, here are some Dovre photos for you. (see this post, and the next: easier to upload and space them that way!...lazy me....!)

(you can well skip this Blog Post if you are a 'Cat Person'....)

....and the pink light

Nice light today, out skiing with the dog. It feels like the light is really trickling back now, minute by minute every day. The sun comes above the horizon and back to the city streets of Tromsø next Friday... The Official 'SunDay' date.... (and this weekend, if you go somewhere up high, with clear views south...you might just get a sneak preview).

Here's a this link to a - very amateur! - video of the dog pulling me on my skis, and a taster of the light as seen today (excuse my wobbly filming and squeaky enthusiatic cries to keep the dog a-running straight! ....hope the camera-shake doesn't make you nauseous):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Mku9KGBVM

New town, blue light