We'll see soon, in the land of blue light

"It is nice to be Norwegian in Denmark"

"Det er dejlig å være norsk i Danmark", as it's advertised. Anyhow, it's nice to visit Denmark, even though you're not Norwegian. We're going to have now a little visit in our southern neighbour. It will be really nice. A little holiday before light is coming back for real - we can't leave the island when we're having the scooter season!

When you're traveling with a dog, you can almost count to get some problems in some point of travel. If not already with ordering the tickets, then in one of the airports. Already, when you start to plan a trip, you have to make Plan A: When you would like to travel; Plan B: What other dates you would be able to travel; and Plan C: Who could take care of your dog who can't travel with you. We ended up to realise the Plan C. We didn't get a place at the airplane for our dog, so he needs to be staying in Svalbard. I'm happy we're having friends who can help us in such situations. We aren't away that long, so for sure he'll be ok - I think it's hardest for me to leave him behind!

By thinking positively, we have more freedom when we don't have our four-legged boy with us. It's just so, that it's not possible to take a dog everywhere. But, it would be also nice to be a dog in Denmark... He knows that also!

Vaccination

We don't have a vet in the town, but he's coming up three times per year. When he's here, it's time for vaccinations and all the other routine things. All the dogs need to be vaccinated against rabies every year. Piece of cake - isn't it?

The dog I'm owning is nice, easy, obedient, absolutely lovely - and he's sure it's question about life and death to get a vaccination. Then we talk about a full panic. The vet is very good, so the result for this vaccination was only two holes (made by claws) on the my jacket and scratch over back of my hand - not bleeding very much. Waiting forward for next vaccination, which will be in May...

A shower day for plants

Increasing light made me to think my plants. They have also had a hard time over the dark winter, I guess. They have been surviving very nicely until now, so I think I have to take some extra good care of them before they start to grow happily when light comes back. I don't know why, but I'm having a feeling that if I loose some of my plants over winter, it happens when we start to get light back, not when it's darkest.

Plants have got a thick layer of dust on their leaves during the winter. Of course, it's not beautiful, but I think it can't be good for them either. They need also to "breath". So, my plants got a shower, a real shower. Or, at least most of them. The highest plant is 2,80 metres tall (measured in autumn), one is so big that it doesn't fit in the shower cubicle, one is just impossible to move from where it's growing and I think one won't tolerate it. So, with them I need to spend some time and wash their leaves with a piece of cloth - or at least try to do it. I didn't had a high enough chair to wash uppermost leaves on that highest plant! But it's nice to see again my plants with bright green leaves :)

There's some of my plants on the pictures... I think there can't be too many plants in the house!

Just so light!

Do you see: Light!!!

Ahhh - it's light!!! I don't mind it's not yet officially called twilight - for me it looks very much like that. Anyhow, it's still just four days for official twilight, so I think I'm not that wrong :D There is twilight just for a little while in the middle of the day, but ahhh - it's so lovely!

Pictures are taken in same time in the same place. The over one is toward south - you see the light sky. The down one is towards north - with magical blue light.

Spitsbergen up and down - almost

Spitsbergen up and down is an outdoor-happening, advertised to be the most beautiful happening in the dark time. And I believe it must be! It's a tour to Trollstein, a mountain behind Larsbreen, a glacier close by the town. From Nybyen it's about nine kilometres tour with 800 metres difference in altitude.

We didn't join the happening, but it would have been totally stupid to miss the change to use that nice track which was made to the top. So we had our own Spitsbergen up and down a day after. It was pretty cold trip with temperature around -25 Celcius, down to -28 degrees. But, for sure it was a beautiful trip! Sky was starlit and northern lights were dancing over us. It was a trip, which was reminding us again, why we're actually living in Svalbard :)

Dragging myself up...

I have totally given up for trying to wake up refreshed on the mornings. I have tried again to have full power on my wake-up light, but results have been kind of variable. Some of the mornings I have been waking up some hours before I should have and then I just haven't been even able to think about to wake up with "refreshing light" - so I have turned it low that I don't need to wake up for it. I have prefer dragged myself to kitchen and tried to get refreshed there with a good cup of tea. Very practical...

That is just a normal situation for me whenever; I can't honestly say it's because of the dark time. I have kind of accepted I'm not anyhow an early bird. And as our society is made for mostly for them, I'll be struggling with that. So, I'm not bothering to get worried about that :)

Grease

Grease is an American musical, originally placed in the USA in the 50's. Longyearbyen Secondary School put that on show in our new Culture House. It was just awesome, really impressive. I was sturck dumb with that show.

There were 61 teenagers which participated the  Grease-project; 31 of them were at the stage. Some of them were as actors, some as dancers. Also the band which was playing was mostly occupied by teenagers. Scenery, lightning and sound, costumes, leaflets etc. - almost everything - was made by those school kids. Two shows, each of them one and half hours - You just have to be impressed how competent young people we are having in the town!

Last weeks in darkness

I'm waiting for light as a kid is waiting for Christmas... Every day I'm looking towards south - maybe it's lighter today than yesterday. It's not that long time we'll see mountains in "real" light - even though I'm not anyhow underestimating the light of the full moon! Or, it should be full moon now, but it's a total overcast. So we had a pretty dark tour today. But, I'm hoping it was one of our last ones in total darkness!

Heavily equipped

We had a little scooter trip today. Sky in the south were slightly lighter, there were weak polar lights over the sky and almost full moon which made mountains to glow magically. Everything at once! Where ever you looked, it was just amazingly  beautiful. The perfect day - if we don't count that it's pretty painful to get feeling back on fingers afterwards...

There is pretty much stuff you need to have even for a quite short scooter tour. I got curious how much I'm actually having on me. So, I just needed to weigh me with all the clothes and equipment on and afterwards without them: 17 kilograms difference! And that was only what I was having on me; Then we're having some safety equipment separately with us as well. On the picture there is everything I had today with, safety equipment included.

But, already boots are weighing 2,5 kg, scooter suit almost 4 kg and rifle with ammunition about the same. If my partner is with me, I don't need to carry the rifle at all, because he's having a rifle holder in his scooter - I'm not having that. Today I was carrying the gun as well. No, we're not really going around light-weighted...

Wanted: Warm toes

Actually I shouldn't live in the High Arctic but in warmer areas. At least that is how it was if my toes and fingers could decide it. But they can't - and I'm constantly going around with fingers without feeling and toes which haven't given sign of life for long. No fun...

I think I have tried my best. When I don't need to walk much, I'm using Sorel Glacier -boots with 13 mm felt inner boots, otherwise some other old Sorel-boots with 9 mm liners. And socks: just ask about them! Of course I'm using wool, leaving still good place for my toes. And anyhow... I'm happy I'm haven't need to loose my toes because of frostbites.

I'm slowly getting tired with that constant struggling about keeping my toes warm. But I'm not giving up! Next action is to buy Mukluks, boots which are designed in the style of the Native North American. They are pretty popular here in Longyearbyen and people who are using them are mostly satisfied.  I'm hoping to get them (model Arctic) on the end of month. Now, while I'm waiting I try to tune my old good Sorels: I bought new inner soles made of reindeer. They feels really nice under foots! And I also bought with little bit scepticism socks made of wool from baby alpaca. They were advertised to be four times warmer than normal wool. And I have to admit that those socks are really warm! I think old good wool found a competitor :D

Towards lighter times

It's only the second week in January, but we can clearly see that we're getting towards lighter times. The sky in south is clearly lighter at midday, even though the officially we'll get twilight in the end of the month. But the lighter sky is already giving hope, feeling, that the dark time is soon over.

This dark season has got extremely fast. But I'm already getting really excited to get light back! It will be really nice to take our dogs for walk when we can see mountains around with day light. Even though, we have had fantastics trips under the polar light and starlit sky, but also with near gale and almost inhuman conditions.

To wake-up a cosy way instead of to be refreshed

Before Christmas I was using wake-up light on it's full efficacy with hope that I could wake up refreshed. That didn't actually happened... but I found out that it's really nice to wake up for lightened room.

I was using light seven weeks before Christmas. Then I had three weeks pause with some random use of wake-up light but now it's time to get on normal life again.

Now I'm not using light anymore on it's full efficacy, but last week I was using it only with the light-level 1. That's enough to lighten the room but doesn't wake me up before alarm. Now I'm feeling that it's nice to wake up for little bit lightened room without that light is trying to unnaturally push me up. Anyhow, I have given up for hope to wake up refreshed, for me it's enough to wake up on cosy way and slowly start the day with a cup of tea.

Late Christmas greetings

Our hyacinths started to flower little too late thinking about Christmas, but that doesn't matter anything. They are anyhow beautiful :)

Just snowing...

Quadrantids is years first meteor shower - and it's also the last big shower before we get the light season. This year the peak was very late at night, but that didn't actually matter - it was snowing anyhow. So, no any heavenly fireworks for start of the new year, instead it was bedtime for me. Maybe next year again...

Yes, we have had some snowy days lately. We have got little bit limited view from the kitchen window. I think it looks actually pretty cosy :)

Wake-up light got cast aside for three weeks

Yep, there were about three weeks break with using the wake-up light - in the darkest time of the year. First, I was almost one week in Tromsø. There it was actually pretty ok to wake up without wake-up light, because we got anyhow pretty good twilight during the day. And when I came back to Svalbard, it was Christmas time. When I was home, I used the light, but we also spend some time at a cabin. Over the Christmas time I just gave up all the requirements for a regular day rhythm: We went to sleep when we got tired and woke up so late as possible. And if I needed to wake up early, then I just did that and slept even longer day after. Exactly against all the rules for keeping regular sleeping manners ;) But I could just wish that it was possible to have life like that!

But now, Christmas is over and we're again alone at the house after our visitor left. I will have a new try for getting proper sleeping manners again...

A new year has started

It was nice but cold to be back in the cabin. There were a strong breeze when we drove to the cabin with the scooters. My own dog couldn't follow the dog team my friend was driving so he was sitting in his box on the sledge. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like it, but he prefer does that than is left behind. Anyhow, I think it's better with short unpleasant experience than to be left behind and to be taken care of an unfamiliar pack.

New Year's Eve was pretty cold with that strong breeze and -20 Celcius. We didn't see any fireworks at midnight, but we were able to hear rumbling of the fireworks from the town and light flashing and reflecting from Hiorthfjellet. I got suddenly a spooky feeling out of it: It must have been something like that in Finnmark, Northern Norway, in 1944 when people living outside of town were looking the total destruction of the towns by bombing. I was actually pretty happy, when rumbling was over and only thing we heard was wind. Over us was extreme bright starlit sky and some northern lights dancing over it. I'm pretty sure that sky over us was much more beautiful than all of those fireworks on the town.

New Years Day was really nice with just a gentle breeze and around -25 degrees. We got some visitors and had everything just easy. New Year started with a nice way :)

The picture is showing what happens when you leave your place for a moment: Even the dog is knowing where it's the warmest place to be sleeping. Especially, when sleeping bags are preheated!