"This is, without a doubt, my soul season, especially the time leading up to the long darkness of the polar night, because, with the darkness looming, you just naturally soak up the moments even more. Every day feels special, especially in the golden hour, the burning rays of the setting sun."
I saw this video yesterday, and it's stuck with me so I looked it up this morning to show to you. It's much colder where Cecilia Blomdahl is, on Svalbard, inside the Arctic Circle, and there are much greater extremes of light and dark over the course of the year. I find it easy to like the balanced light and dark of the parts of the year around the Equinox, but it's worth developing a love for the darkest time of the year. Blomdahl faces the shrinkage of daylight down to nothing and months of polar night. My shortest day, here in Wisconsin is 9 hours long. Is that short? 9 hours? It's short enough to urge you to notice and take those hours outside, in nature, if you can. The daylight "feels special" when it's in short supply.
I know Blomdahl from TikTok, and I love the art of the super-short video — speaking of shortness — but you might prefer YouTube, and it's nice to have much more of Blomdahl and her glorification of the Arctic:
The shortest day of the year is about 9 hours where I live. It feels really short--when most of that time is spent at the office, you go long periods of time hardly seeing the sun at all. Dec-Feb, we often eat dinner early because it feels later than it is. Sometimes we start getting ready for bed at 7, and then somebody looks at a clock and realizes, it's only 7 o'clock!
When my daughter was younger, we often went skating after dinner so we had something to do while waiting for bedtime, but she's a teenager now and skating isn't cool. During COVID, the rinks and sled hills were crowded because there were so few activities allowed. People were desperate for anything to get them out of the house. We still see that today--every public event is packed because people are starved for entertainment.
In SE Michigan we have about the same minimum daylight hours as AA during late December. Not bad after experiencing it over a lifetime, but it's always nice to arrive at the winter solstice and start thinking of spring. Good time for indoor projects and reading a bit more.
I recently watched a YouTube video made by a young woman living on Svalbard, who was explaining why she carried a Mossberg 500 slung on her shoulder while she walked her little dog in the dark. Polar bears are a significant threat on the island, so people go around armed with a long gun — except as good at stalking as polar bears are reputed to be, and as much snow as there is on the ground to hide a large, but white, predator, I wonder how fast she can get that shotgun off her back and pointed in the right direction if a bear should charge her from about 20 yards away. I hope for her sake she practices not just shooting the gun, but bringing it off her back and into action.
One advantage in the far north for photographers is that for a considerable period of time, the sun spends most of its time at "golden hour" angles, allowing ample time for beautiful photography.
I will never forget arriving in Utah, seeing those huge snowbanks, and thinking "I will never get used to this". Flash-forward six months later, and I'm taking snow off of my car wearing only a T-shirt, and filled with glee doing it.
I can understand it, but no thanks. I spent enough time in cold and dark on the northern tier (WI and WA) and now I'm happily being solar powered here in AZ.
I wrote this poem after some true Wisconsonites explained to me how to get through the winter. The year I came the temp dropped to 40 below and to be honest, whatever I was told, it was going to sunny, warmer Santa Fe for the worst of it that reconciled me.
Nature wears a hoodie In Wisconsin. Five months of the year, Dark forms trudge forward Through the dark, the sleet, the rain, the snow. Buds and kids Are shapeless bundles Clinging to, sheltered by The parental shoot … Till Spring, Till suddenly the buds spin up Into glory, Into leaf and branch and flower, Into every kind of alleluia. The humans have it hardest. They know the dark comes in Bucket by bucket Four minutes more each day Starting in June. They carry this knowledge, As the postman of old carried his bag Through the dark, the sleet, the rain, the snow. Leaning forward into it, Faithfully, They teach their children how. “As I unbundle Your coat And sweater and boots and mittens and scarf and hat and heavy pants and heavy socks To find you again, My darling, Just so and in no other way Each year True love comes In the spring. In the heart of Wisconsin, It never fails. Out of the shapeless dark, it comes In leaf and branch and flower, In every kind of alleluia, From the dark, it comes Unbundling us.
I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?
I'd love the extended dark, but the astronomical variety is a bit limited that far north. Far south would be better, but it's not possible to live in Antartica.
I like the onset of winter and the first snowfall is special. But for me the charm is short lived and by January this Norwegian takes monthly breaks to more southernly latitudes. Come May, I very content to stay here until winter.
Yancey Ward said... I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?
Remember Northern Exposure? There’s an episode about a 2-week period in June when the sun didn’t go down. Newcomers to town would go insane.
The combination of cold with no Sun because of clouds is brutal. For me. As someone who works, getting into the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset is wearing.
"I’ve wondered what was new w/you, Crack. To hear you’re full of glee creates happiness in me, as well.
Viva :0)"
That was a while back, but, sincerely, thank you. I'm in a small agricultural town in California now, living amongst Mexicans. A couple of years ago, a friend and I wrote a song predicting the black looting and violence we're seeing so much of, post-pandemic. He rapped the verse, which describes his life of already-ongoing depravity - including the abuse and sale of women - in order to keep his head above water in America, while I take the chorus, encouraging survival over civility, which goes like this:
Yancey Ward said..."I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?"
Moved from a four-season continental climate (New Jersey) to a subtropical hot desert climate (Las Vegas). After 12 years, I can say it's the right climate for me.
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone, as I am not so dull as to think I know what's right for anyon else.
I have been driven to near insanity by stretches of below-freezing temps. I have experienced no such near insanity by stretches of 100+ temps.
And I have faith that my vitamin D levels are optimal.
Blomdahl is delightful. I've been watching her long form YouTube videos for a couple years, and they are always a joy to watch. Glad others are discovering her too. That said...while it looks like a fascinating place to visit, two and a half months of darkness is just not something I'd refer to as my "soul season." Your mileage may vary.
Winters in Melbourne/AU are often grey and blustery, but we don't get real winters like Wisconsin - it never drops below freezing here. The closest you'll get is ice on your windscreen in the morning.
Winters here coincide with the main religious calendar of football. So we have that to get us through 'til spring.
It's the summers I dread. I will never forget the 47/116 degree day we had in 2009.
Thermal dysphoria, pethaps. Most people feel more alive in warm weather. Most people insulate their bodies in cold weather. A minority are sufficiently healthy to regulate their body temperatures to feel alive across a broad thermal spectrum.
Someone very close to me lived in Fairbanks for a few years. He said he could sit at lunch in the winter and while eating, watch the sun rise then set.
Back at 9:13 I wrote a comment about a video "made by a young woman living on Svalbard." I looked up the video and it turns out to be the same videographer: Cecelia Blomdahl. Small world (on Svalbard, anyway). Here she is explaining the relevant laws regarding self defense from polar bears on Svalbard. If you look at the video you'll see why I am concerned about her ability to get the shotgun off her back and pointed at a charging polar bear.
Down here, blue Jays and new stiff wranglers meant back to school. I hated school. Not a good student & barely got in and barely graduated from college. Good thing I was successful in an occupation I could have done as a high school dropout. I hate cold weather & dread the change.
The darkness of fall and winter does not "loom" it just starts earlier and stays later, leaving us waking to go work in the dark and coming home from work in the dark. Which is depressing, period.
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Screw cold weather.
The shortest day of the year is about 9 hours where I live. It feels really short--when most of that time is spent at the office, you go long periods of time hardly seeing the sun at all. Dec-Feb, we often eat dinner early because it feels later than it is. Sometimes we start getting ready for bed at 7, and then somebody looks at a clock and realizes, it's only 7 o'clock!
When my daughter was younger, we often went skating after dinner so we had something to do while waiting for bedtime, but she's a teenager now and skating isn't cool. During COVID, the rinks and sled hills were crowded because there were so few activities allowed. People were desperate for anything to get them out of the house. We still see that today--every public event is packed because people are starved for entertainment.
Isn't living in very cold places, where you need your fossil fuels to stay warm, a form of white privilege that harms the climate?
In SE Michigan we have about the same minimum daylight hours as AA during late December. Not bad after experiencing it over a lifetime, but it's always nice to arrive at the winter solstice and start thinking of spring. Good time for indoor projects and reading a bit more.
I recently watched a YouTube video made by a young woman living on Svalbard, who was explaining why she carried a Mossberg 500 slung on her shoulder while she walked her little dog in the dark. Polar bears are a significant threat on the island, so people go around armed with a long gun — except as good at stalking as polar bears are reputed to be, and as much snow as there is on the ground to hide a large, but white, predator, I wonder how fast she can get that shotgun off her back and pointed in the right direction if a bear should charge her from about 20 yards away. I hope for her sake she practices not just shooting the gun, but bringing it off her back and into action.
One advantage in the far north for photographers is that for a considerable period of time, the sun spends most of its time at "golden hour" angles, allowing ample time for beautiful photography.
I will never forget arriving in Utah, seeing those huge snowbanks, and thinking "I will never get used to this". Flash-forward six months later, and I'm taking snow off of my car wearing only a T-shirt, and filled with glee doing it.
In cold weather I feel mostly cold.
I can understand it, but no thanks. I spent enough time in cold and dark on the northern tier (WI and WA) and now I'm happily being solar powered here in AZ.
I love the North Country and the cold. A 20F degree day with no wind and crunchy snow on the ground is as perfect as it comes.
When I lived in Anchorage, though, we had about 4 hours of daylight. The darkness was overpowering and I was happy to move away.
I spent most of a winter above the Arctic Circle. There's nothing good about that much dark. One star, wouldn't go back.
I wrote this poem after some true Wisconsonites explained to me how to get through the winter. The year I came the temp dropped to 40 below and to be honest, whatever I was told, it was going to sunny, warmer Santa Fe for the worst of it that reconciled me.
Nature wears a hoodie
In Wisconsin.
Five months of the year,
Dark forms trudge forward
Through the dark, the sleet, the rain, the snow.
Buds and kids
Are shapeless bundles
Clinging to, sheltered by
The parental shoot …
Till Spring,
Till suddenly the buds spin up
Into glory,
Into leaf and branch and flower,
Into every kind of alleluia.
The humans have it hardest.
They know the dark comes in
Bucket by bucket
Four minutes more each day
Starting in June.
They carry this knowledge,
As the postman of old carried his bag
Through the dark, the sleet, the rain, the snow.
Leaning forward into it,
Faithfully,
They teach their children how.
“As I unbundle
Your coat
And sweater and boots and mittens and scarf and hat and heavy pants and heavy socks
To find you again,
My darling,
Just so and in no other way
Each year
True love comes
In the spring.
In the heart of Wisconsin,
It never fails.
Out of the shapeless dark, it comes
In leaf and branch and flower,
In every kind of alleluia,
From the dark, it comes
Unbundling us.
If she's inside the Arctic Circle she won't see "the burning rays of the setting sun" (or the rising sun) once December rolls around.
I spent some time in Sweden one late spring, and I loved the long days (sunset after 10pm). Swedes seemed to like them too.
I’ve wondered what was new w/you, Crack.
To hear you’re full of glee creates happiness in me, as well.
Viva :0)
I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?
The Crack Emcee said...
"I'm taking snow off of my car wearing only a T-shirt, and filled with glee doing it."
LOL. I live in Arizona and work with people from Fargo ND. Parka weather in AZ is polo shirt weather in Fargo.
I'd love the extended dark, but the astronomical variety is a bit limited that far north. Far south would be better, but it's not possible to live in Antartica.
I like the onset of winter and the first snowfall is special. But for me the charm is short lived and by January this Norwegian takes monthly breaks to more southernly latitudes. Come May, I very content to stay here until winter.
Yancey Ward said...
I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?
Remember Northern Exposure? There’s an episode about a 2-week period in June when the sun didn’t go down. Newcomers to town would go insane.
The combination of cold with no Sun because of clouds is brutal. For me. As someone who works, getting into the office before sunrise and leaving after sunset is wearing.
Baby, it's cold outside, but inside it's so delightful.
A Green Deal would be a raw deal in most locales.
farmgirl said...
"I’ve wondered what was new w/you, Crack.
To hear you’re full of glee creates happiness in me, as well.
Viva :0)"
That was a while back, but, sincerely, thank you. I'm in a small agricultural town in California now, living amongst Mexicans. A couple of years ago, a friend and I wrote a song predicting the black looting and violence we're seeing so much of, post-pandemic. He rapped the verse, which describes his life of already-ongoing depravity - including the abuse and sale of women - in order to keep his head above water in America, while I take the chorus, encouraging survival over civility, which goes like this:
G.A.B.O.S. (Game Ain't Based on Sympathy)
Now Y'all All Divorced From Reality
How Y'all Gonna Get Back Out On Those Streets?
Aim So Low No One Cares If You Succeed
The idea that someone actually DOES care is powerful to me in this environment. Thank you, thank you, thank you, again. It means a lot.
Yancey Ward said..."I would like to spend a Winter above the Arctic Circle for the experience of all day nighttime. I am not nearly as eager, though, to spend a Summer above the Arctic Circle. Does that sound weird?"
Weird? No. You could be astronomer material.
No one moves from Florida to Wisconsin for the winter.
Moved from a four-season continental climate (New Jersey) to a subtropical hot desert climate (Las Vegas). After 12 years, I can say it's the right climate for me.
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone, as I am not so dull as to think I know what's right for anyon else.
I have been driven to near insanity by stretches of below-freezing temps. I have experienced no such near insanity by stretches of 100+ temps.
And I have faith that my vitamin D levels are optimal.
Blomdahl is delightful. I've been watching her long form YouTube videos for a couple years, and they are always a joy to watch. Glad others are discovering her too. That said...while it looks like a fascinating place to visit, two and a half months of darkness is just not something I'd refer to as my "soul season." Your mileage may vary.
Winters in Melbourne/AU are often grey and blustery, but we don't get real winters like Wisconsin - it never drops below freezing here. The closest you'll get is ice on your windscreen in the morning.
Winters here coincide with the main religious calendar of football. So we have that to get us through 'til spring.
It's the summers I dread. I will never forget the 47/116 degree day we had in 2009.
Thermal dysphoria, pethaps. Most people feel more alive in warm weather. Most people insulate their bodies in cold weather. A minority are sufficiently healthy to regulate their body temperatures to feel alive across a broad thermal spectrum.
my vitamin D levels are optimal
Cholesterol, check. Sunlight, check. A paler shade of skin, check. Vitamin D in me, too.
"Does that sound weird?"
Nah I hear the summer arctic mosquitos are killer. Enough to keep me away.
A pity, really.
Someone very close to me lived in Fairbanks for a few years. He said he could sit at lunch in the winter and while eating, watch the sun rise then set.
Back at 9:13 I wrote a comment about a video "made by a young woman living on Svalbard." I looked up the video and it turns out to be the same videographer: Cecelia Blomdahl. Small world (on Svalbard, anyway). Here she is explaining the relevant laws regarding self defense from polar bears on Svalbard. If you look at the video you'll see why I am concerned about her ability to get the shotgun off her back and pointed at a charging polar bear.
NORGE where the white people came from.
On a cold day with no wind, you can see your breath. If you are on hike and stop to admire a view, you do feel more alive.
Robert,
Winnipeg
Down here, blue Jays and new stiff wranglers meant back to school. I hated school. Not a good student & barely got in and barely graduated from college. Good thing I was successful in an occupation I could have done as a high school dropout.
I hate cold weather & dread the change.
The darkness of fall and winter does not "loom" it just starts earlier and stays later, leaving us waking to go work in the dark and coming home from work in the dark. Which is depressing, period.
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