Environment/Nature

Steampunk and the last shoe last; hook and hut and scaling the mast

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From Ny-Ålesund cemetery to Ny-London steampunk

We crossed Kongsfjord from Ny-Ålesund to Ny-London – a marble quarry that went bust. It is an island of marble, but the marble crumbled and turned to gravel by the time it got to Europe, and so, like so many other dreams, it was abandoned. Leaving the buildings, train tracks, and machinery was easier and cheaper than removing anything. Polar steampunk is born. We landed, and I walked, took photos, and finally swam. Well, I went into the water. I stripped under the cliff out of the wind. Walking in up to my waist, I stood for a long few seconds before dipping in up to my neck. I stayed there for another few long seconds and then walked out. My toes and fingers immediately lost feeling.

The water was amazing. Cold, of course, but also almost sweet in its saltiness. Hard to explain. I dressed right away again, and the clothes didn’t stick the way they sometimes do with salt water, though the beads of water froze on my skin. Yesterday, and the day before, were the coldest days, I think.

Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua, steampunk, Ny-London, marble , quarry

Steam engine

Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua, steam punk, patterns

Spiraled steam power

Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua, shoes, shoe last

The last shoe last

Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua, shoes, shoe last,steampunk, Ny-London, marble , quarry

Hook and hut – remnants

Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua, steampunk, Ny-London, marble , quarry

Scaling the mast

 

Categories: Environment/Nature, Leisure/Travel, Personal Narrative, Photography

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4 replies »

    • Thank you, Cat. The solitude and silence of these places, long-empty of human voices and ambitions, seem to draw only reverence–for those whose dreams were lost, for the land forever altered, and for the changing climate that may erase all remnants of both.