Well, the market is over. It was incredible. It's easy to see how it is considered to be the biggest event to occur all year in the north. This morning, we packed up the rented 8 passenger vans and began our two day trek north. We will spend tonight in the little town of Pajala and tomorrow further north in Kiruna before going back to Jokkmokk until Friday when we will depart for Möra.
Today, since we were only about 30 minutes from the Finnish border, we of course decided to make the trek over and take touristy pictures next to the sign. I can now (maybe) put another pin on my map of places I have visited.
We can tell we are going even more north just by the always decreasing temperature. It is so very cold! I thought Jokkmokk would be bad but I kind of feel like I may never again be warm. I am literally at the top of the world. Last night several of us went for a walk across the lake in Jokkmokk looking for Northern Lights (apparently they were faintly present, but you could have fooled me....) This was the third time we have done that and it's so incredible to stand on the extensive lake and look at such a beautiful, clear sky. I am so in love with everything we are doing.
I signed in using my yahoo account name and password, but that didn't work. Next, I tried a google account, which now seems to allow me to post. Monday evening's TV news featured still photos of the Northern Lights over Norway, shot in the past few days and broadcast on CNN. The colors, intensity, and scope of the displays shown in the photos was so much more dramatic than the hints we sometimes see out our back window. As far North as you are, I would have thought that the "lights" would be become comonplace. Perhaps we need a sun storm to fire off some electromagnetic radiation before they will show up.
ReplyDeleteYour picture at the border seems to suggeset that "Suomi" is the Finish word for "Finland." This makes some sense, as we have a Suomi College and once had the Suomi Synod of Lutheran Fins.
How cold is "so very cold?" We had -10 F last night, cold enough to plan a trip to Florida for the rest of the month. Wamer weather is on the way for the weekend in our backyard.
I love the pictures--post more.
Dad