Post-Arctic Shock

After 10 days in the Canadian arctic, a week in British Columbia, and then 12 days in the Alaskan arctic, I am home at last, and to all three or four people who read this, the next few days I'll fill you in on a few of the things that happened. Not today, though, as it's spatial dislocation day--a side effect of airplanes, of waking up above the arctic circle and going to sleep in the Arizona desert.

So just a few quick thoughts.

First, tundra is really cool stuff. The bear berry was changing color, there were reds and golds popping everywhere, and the closer you get down to look at things, the more detail appears.

Second, it sucks to be a musk ox when it's 70 degrees out. We were in camp in sleeveless shirts; that poor guy was wearing a qiviut coat.

Third, apparently, it pretty much sucks all the time to be a caribou, but those guys can swim. Watched them cross a half-mile wide lake, their pace not varying, their heads staying pefectly level the whole time.

And fourth, shooting stars in the arctic are especially lovely. The night sky there this time of year is the prettiest I have ever seen, made all the more so by how short the time it's around. Things have barely gotten dark before the first hints of dawn are coming up; and the full moon, instead of rising, seems to slide sideways like a pinball struck by a flipper.