You know you live in the Arctic when the ads are filled with garden furniture and you keep wondering where your garden is hiding because everything is covered in snow. A few days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night because the wind was so strong that I could hear it scream even through my closed bedroom window. If everyone lived up here, I am sure there would be less complains about staying at home during a corona-lockdown. I know that I prefer staying in my warm, cosy flat rather than outside fighting both the coronavirus and the strong winter winds, snow and hailstorms (yes we have a bit of everything up here).
Suddenly, the day arrive when you get a glimpse of what a sunny day look like. The day when your eyes hurt when you are taking the garbage outside and you realize that it is actually sun rays playing with your eyes that makes your eyes hurt. If you this happens to you and you live in the Arctic, there is just one thing to do- hurry up and go for a walk before the sun rays decide to play with someone else. Especially if you live in a pretty remote place where there is no chance of ending up in a queue.
So, I decided to go for a walk in my neighbourhood.
It was so nice to feel the sun shining on my face.
Yup, this is actually a road made for cars, not a cross country ski track. Of course, you could go skiing there if you wanted to. It seems like the tracks to the left was created by a sledge. If you look at it closely you can see that it does not go in a straight line. Maybe it is created by a happy mother or father who got to spend some time with their children when the schools closed and took their loved ones on a happy sledge ride, pretending to be a horse? No matter who made it, they seem to have been creating their own path.
A few hundred meters later I found a hidden path. At first, I thought it would just lead to a dead end, or to a dark forest. I chose to follow it anyway.
A few hundred meters walk down the path, this view is what I was met with:
I really enjoyed the view. I used to read Donald Duck cartoons when I was little, and I was fascinated about the times where Donald was the only one who had a rain cloud hanging over himself. How could that be? I think I found that rain cloud. Luckily it was not following me.
I loved being so close to the ocean. After being isolated in my home for about two weeks when I discovered that I had a sore throat, it was really nice to breathe in the scent of the ocean. I have read that some corona affected people have lost their sense of smell in a shorter period of time. I have therefore never been so grateful for realizing that my nose was still working. I do not think that I had the corona virus, but I cannot be 100 percent sure of that.
A little bit closer to the water I was really fascinated by this straw that together with its straw family had managed to cut through the snow and harsh conditions
The straws continued to enjoy their lives, dancing happily in the wind. And I started to notice that there were more plants around me that were determined to survive the Arctic climate.
After a while, the little cloud was soon joined by a large number of other clouds. Somebody must have forgotten to tell them about social distancing. I was also starting to feel a bit cold, as I was dressed for sunshine, not for clouds. So I decided to go home and wait for the next sunny day, and a new path to discover. After all, you might be positively surprised when you choose to follow a new path.
Have you ever followed a new path and discovered a positive surprise?
Ina N. Moe 