There are no words

Death

Svalbard, Recherchebreen, scale, perimeter, Recherchefjorden, Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua

Ice, snow, water, cloud, light, texture

 

I know that there are no words to make death better and so, I often remain silent for too long when people I know suffer a loss. For all the power of words, they are only words, and they cannot replace the love of a lifetime, a father, husband, or child. They cannot replace the smile, the joy, the humor of one who is no longer.

Process

Svalbard, Recherchebreen, scale, perimeter, Recherchefjorden, Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua

Lessons in scale.

 

For months I have been ruminating, exploring my experience on Svalbard. I am leery of processing my photos – they cannot truly represent the exquisite colors and textures of the ice, the ocean, the landscape. They cannot convey the quality of light, the weight of the cold air, or smell of snow. They only pluck at the edges of the vast expanse, the scale of mountains, glaciers, open water, and solitude. It does not seem possible to feel the distance, the isolation, or the fortitude of the place, resolutely anchored in the north with nothing but open water and ice between it and the North Pole.

No words

Svalbard, Recherchebreen, scale, perimeter, Recherchefjorden, Oslo, Norway, snow, winter,Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen, The Arctic Circle, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Esmarkbreen, Ymerbukta, ice, glacier, tall ship, Antigua,polar bear, climate change, death,

Polar bear tracks disappearing

Now, more than ever in our species’ memories, the Arctic is commonly open water. The ice ages and Little Ice Age are gone. The pack ice of the Arctic Ocean basin, oscillating around the northern axis; building and retreating; seizing ships and men of old; providing a hunting and birthing platform for animals supremely adapted to the cold, the ice, and the dark; releasing accumulated nutrients into the water for the ocean-bound and the flying, diving creatures of summer; this great pack ice is leaving us.

There are no words that can mollify this loss. And yet, now more than ever is no time to be silent.

 

 

 

Another day

Town

I understand now that the sun is too low on the horizon to clear the mountains around Longyearbyen; I look forward to sailing into the sunshine on Monday. Below are a few more shots around town.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, power, electricity production, power plant

Sunshine so far away.

 

Longyearbyen, art, graffiti, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, Watson, polar bear

A stylish/stylized/styling polar bear all dressed up for a day on the town.

 

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Arctic, sculpture, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, power, electricity production, power plant, miner, coal, mining, sculpture

The unknown miner drills into mid-town coal reserves. 

 

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, power, electricity production, power plant

Sun catches both ends of the mountains across the fjord but stays out of town this time of year.

 

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, power, electricity production, power plant

The mountains across Isfjorden catch a few late afternoon rays.

 

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, power, electricity production, power plant

The old coal cableway looks down upon the current power plant. No indication of what keeps the new plant firing.

 

Longyearbyen, Nordre Isfjorden National Park, Svalbard, Arctic, The Arctic Circle, coal, cableway, historic buildings, Norway,

All roads lead to Isfjorden and views of Nordre Isfjorden National Park beyond.

I took this photo: After a good night’s sleep

cooper island

Things that happen while you sleep.

Unless the weather was completely unbearable I left the tent door partially unzipped so I could sit up and look out. My theory was if a polar bear was calling, I wanted to see it before it pounced. Of course, zipped into my sleeping bag, I looked like a puffy seal and an easy snack for a bear (granted in the photo above, out of my sleeping bag, I look like a puffy upright seal).

Sometimes while I slept people would stop on the island. They would pull up their boat, walk to the tent, see me buried in my bag, and leave again. Occasionally, I awoke to a plate of donuts or fresh fish left by unknown visitors.

When you live alone in a tent on an Arctic Ocean island you might expect heightened senses and light sleep. Hearing a boat approaching the island or a bear approaching your tent would be a good survival skill.

I took this photo after a good night’s sleep. I crawled out of the tent to find that the Arctic Ocean had moved thousands of tons of ice into this massive wall less than a hundred yards from where I slept.

It’s amazing I survived at all.

[This is a scan from the original slide. From film. Some of you may remember that stuff.]

The Road not Taken Enough