" ...though we travel the world to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us, or we find it not "
Emerson (1803-1882)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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 ;) ???)