UnFreeze

Summary is difficult.  The Arctic was a trip that will be resavored. “Do you remember?” The best I can do today is bullet points.

• Time and place: Not as long as some.  A three hour starter flight and then a seven hour leg. Oslo in two small doses was lovely.  We walked up the slanting roof of the Ballet Theater and looked out over water, modern buildings, a cathedral, and an art colony. Vigeland Sculpture Park was made better by a good gossipy guide.
• Fjords were part of Svalbard archipelago with lots of impossible to pronounce names.  They provided the framing for our sailing.
• Expedition- Absolutely amazing! In an area of 24 hours of sun, I raised my black out curtain each morning to water (with and without ice floes) and snow capped mountains.
• Guides and speakers – maybe my favorite part.  Younger experts in a variety of         __ology fields who gave speeches and sat with various groups at meals.  Some were the so patient helpers with keep warm gear, loading the zodiacs, and guiding walks.
• Ah, yes – the animals.  We did see polar bears, mainly through binoculars on far fields.  All walks had a guide with a gun.  The balance is protection of bears and of tourists.  Arctic reindeer are numerous enough to look like white dots on a dark cliff.  The can’t be bothered walruses were the most viewable  They yawned and ignored the upright two-legged intruders.

That’s not all, but enough to whet your appetite or satisfy a so that’s what it is like question. The six of us chose individually what made us happy during the day and joined for lunch sometimes and supper always to share and be, a treat not usually available to us. A travel itch was scratched and a comfort zone stretched.  Even at 79 degrees N, I was reminded of what the psalmist who probably never went there knew.  

The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

Psalm 24: 1