dj.tigersprout's photoblog
a Home, at the Top of the World...
Posted by dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 29 October 2009 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.
20 hours of night does strange things to your mind and body -- naturally you are inclined to sleep more, which i did with pleasure!! but after a few days, eating habits tended to warp. i never seemed hungry when i should have been and strangely would then find myself very hungry all of a sudden. the easiest meal by far was breakfast -- although i was inclined to have this around 10am when the thin light finally won out over the deep darkness. of course the rest of the town was already up and being productive!!
by 2pm the light was nearly gone -- the skies a dark blue, and my inner body clock wanted to get warm and comfortable, have dinner and prepare for bedtime with an hour or two in front of the fire!! i had to mentally convince myself to settle for lunch in an excitable pub, otherwise i could have easily been home and asleep by 5pm! :P
it helped a good deal to watch the locals on the streets -- they had the pattern down instinctively and could be seen busy about their shopping or chores -- work schedules too until about 7PM. then the icy sidewalk traffic would thin until about 10PM when the pub traffic / restaurant traffic would start to pick up.
luckily for me, the best part of the day was waiting for the aurora borealis to appear... which usually began to twinkle as flat green bands just after 6PM. it took about 2 hours to become active, waxing and waning lazily in different parts of the sky so during this time i would nap or stoke the fire or just sit by the large windows at my bedside and watch, anxiously awaiting some fervent movement and bright color.
in total, i spent 5 amazing days in Norway's arctic circle -- my longest arctic trip yet, and definitely my favorite. the temperatures were 'balmy', just at freezing (32F), and being quite modern and westernized, there were plenty things to do! in contrast -- Alaska's weather hovered at -25F the entire time i was there (arctic circle or not), and even though westernized, being a largely pioneer development, there was not much to do besides freeze once the light left the sky! :P
so if you ever hope to catch an amazing glimpse of the aurora borealis (and i HIGHLY recommend the experience), then Tromso, is the place to do so. in Alaska, you need to stay up til 2AM before it begins its dance in the sky -- if the weather cooperates. i saw the aurora borealis 4 nights in a row in Tromso!!! and it comes out at dinner time -- so you never have to stay up waiting for it!! as a huge and pleasant bonus, the weather is far warmer thanks to the warm waters of the gulf stream that heats the coastline. :)
here is a zoom shot of some countryside in the airport vicinity. the mountains that surround the island (Tromso is one of hundreds of islands / islets that lie off the coast of northern Norway) are simply amazingly majestic and can appear rather 'small' due to the lack of trees above a certain altitude. imagine waking up to this beautiful atmosphere and view...! in my opinion, simply an enchanted life -- at the top of the world!!
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Canon EOS REBEL XT
1/20 second
F/14.0
ISO 800
75 mm