Bonito Living

After a couple of days sailing the prospect of terra firme was very appealing, albeit icy and cold. We arrived to the city of Alta at sunrise, the shy sun over the sparse city drowned in snow. Later in the evening we went to an excursion outside Alta, as if we could go more wild!

A truly dramatic landscape: the snow covering the road, the waterfalls frozen midway, the water drips hanging like crystals in a candelabra, the road piercing the rocks covered in snow. At one side of the road, gigantic rocks crossed by frozen waterfalls; to the other side, vast expanses of what is a frozen lake. The vehicle darts through the darkness, its wheels prepared but still the storm looks like confetti in every direction. After one hour we arrived to a camp, where we were welcome with hot chocolate and cake and several campfires and Same teepees. Without the light of the city but bathed in the moonlight this was a scene of Bruegel.

I did not have high expectations of seeing the lights: it was foggy and snowy when we left, and indeed, the whole excursion was already intriguing. But the weather in the Arctic changes all the time and soon the veils of clouds dissipated to give room to a soft display of lights, wispy clouds in the sky, the occasional light in the horizon. Soon the moon began to rise in the horizon, we adventured some more steps toward the hill far from the other visitors. I suddenly heard a growl, was this a wolf? it looked like, and his fierce eyes were fixed on us. Somebody whistled and the wolf/dog growl again not wanting to move. We froze too. I felt the wolf/dog looked into my soul, as in a dream. Soon it left and we came back to the camp.

It was cold and there was not so much activity in the boreal world, so we entered one of the teepees and sat around the fire. There were benches covered with moose skins, and the smoke made the moment a bit eerie, yet it was warm and people were huddled against each other. Somebody asked if any one knew stories. As I have been reading so many stories of the gods I asked the audience if they wanted to hear one about Gods and Giants, they said yes…

And then in the midst of the night, around the fire, my voice started the story… (listen to the story of the Norse Myths here)

When I finished everybody was in silent, we have been transported to another time, another dimension. Somebody called from outside, it seems that the Aurora borealis was drumming in the air. Folks went out to the night. When we looked up the northern lights flashed around us, people were taking pictures and exclaiming. I knew the Gods were dancing.