18 October–Oslo It is almost awkward to be in the world of light, trees, and birds again. The noise and chaos of the group over the last two weeks remain in my […]
Winding down
Notes and views For open water, the chairs [in the dining/common area] are bungee-ed to the floor so they can only slide a small distance. Flat surfaces, other than the dining tables, […]
Steampunk and the last shoe last; hook and hut and scaling the mast
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 […]
Sky, ice, and other living things
Blomstrandbreen Have I saturated your senses with ice and sky? I hope not. I never have enough sky. Vast expanses that absorb my thoughts, my anxiety, my idea of significance in the […]
Bob Marley in my head
Redemption song Often, when I feel pressed for time but have something I want to write, I leave notes in my journal, so I remember to flesh out the thoughts later. 10 […]
Photos from the edge
Blue light and black and white
At the edge of the world
North 9 October – morning anchor Holmiabukta We motored out of Lilliehöökbreen that night [maybe the night of the 8th?], moving through the fjord while we had dinner and then onto the […]
Uncharted water
Uncharted pop-culture We moved the other night, from the beach with the sand and glacier cubes to the north into another fjord. Anchoring on one side of Lloyd’s Hotel (Möllerfjorden), we did […]
The Fourteenth of July Bay
7 October Sunday Möllerfjorden – Lloyd Hotel Yesterday – Fjortende Julibreen Yesterday, we continued motoring north along the strait between mainland Spitsbergen and the barrier island to the west; the water was […]
Whatever day it is, there are not enough synonyms for sublime
Svalbard Blues The Mercurial blues of Svalbard tell us time is a-wasting and the days of glacier glow are passing.