Tag: Arctic

So far behind…

I’ve taken a look at my blog for the first time in a very long time. The past six months have been dominated by working on the JacanaPress.com blog featuring my husband Kent’s book. If you look there, you’ll find glimpses of what we’ve been up to, including six intense weeks of travel through Scandinavia in December.

“Why go in the winter?” I’ve been asked. Here is my reply:

Scandinavia is where my ancestors lived 150 years ago and for centuries before that.

Why in winter?  I had a checklist: (1) I wanted a challenge and a bit of an adventure, (2) I wanted to avoid crowds and the high prices of the summer season, (3) I wanted to see the aurora borealis, (4)  winter and snow bring back memories of my Upper Michigan childhood, (5) snow is beautiful, (6) I wanted to celebrate Christmas with relatives in Sweden and enjoy the Christmas lights and festivities, (7) our grandchildren were going to be elsewhere.

I loved the Polar Night when the day was four of five hours of twilight with the sun lurking below the horizon. I missed the sun, though, and on Santa Lucia Day, December 13, we crossed the Arctic Circle again heading south. I waited with anticipation aboard the ship (Hurtigruten’s Polarlys) for the sun to hit a high peak. My heart leaped up when I saw the first pink light hit the triangular peak I’d been watching. ”Thank you, God, thank you, Sun, for being there!” I was deeply moved. The Polar Night was beautiful, but what if I never saw the sun again?

We arrived home after our travels to face a pile of mail we still haven’t quite gotten through, repairs of things falling apart in the house (I think it missed us), preparing Kent’s lecture, “Escape to Sea: Dreams and Realities” for Oasis (it was well-received), and all the other busy activities that keep us from taking much-needed long walks.

First light after leaving the Polar Night
Return to the Light Decmber 13, 2023

From the Arctic (Update from email sent on December 8, 2023, so you don’t have to click on the link to view)

http://eepurl.com/iFJzzEEmail sent from Jacana Press from the Arctic December 8, 2023



The Polar Night
W

We crossed the Arctic Circle at 8:05 am, entering the Polar Night.  Kent and Pam never got here in Jacana or Coot, but we took the opportunity to celebrate We Ran Away to Sea.  The polar mark was lit up as we passed.
We told one of our dining partners about the book, and she whipped out her phone and ordered a copy on the spot!   We hope some of you will do the same!

Yesterday’s polar night was more like sunrise and sunset compressed into a few hours, with no actual day in between.  As a photographer it was like having the blue hour for two or three hours, not just 20 minutes.
In a few hours we will tie up in Tromsø, the gateway to the polar regions. We’ll be in this darkness and semi-dark for several more days.  I’m glad we’re not sailing in Coot!  My fingers would be too cold to write!










Svolvaer.  It’s definitely polar night.


Polarnight daytime, l’heure bleue.

Another short video:  Christmas on a sailboat is different. In 1994, Pam and Kent celebrated at Exuma National Park in the Bahamas. Read about it on page 126 (Chapter 12 Going Foreign) in We Ran Away to Sea. Sail with Pam and Kent on  YouTube, Instagram and TikTok!

We need more reviews!  Please share your thoughts about the book if you liked it (and even if you didn’t). Every review helps. It doesn’t have to more than a heading and a few words.

We Ran Away to Sea is now available at The Treasure House, Organic Books, Books on the Bosque, Bookworks, and Page One in Albuquerque. NM; The Travel Bug and Collected Works in Santa Fe, NM; Calamity Books and Sheridan Stationery and Books in Sheridan, WY; Two Dog Market in Leadville, Colorado; and at Books by the Bay in Sausalito, CA, as well as on Amazon in both paperback and ebook.Upcoming Event: Kent will be presenting at Oasis in Albuquerque on January 19, 10:30-12, 2024. If you’d like him to give a presentation somewhere near you, please let us know. Have book, will travel!