Utsjoki, Lapland – Northern Finland

5-6 December 2019

Thursday – feeling surprisingly good for being dragged 50’ by a pack of huskies

We meet this morning at 9:30, just at the dawn of civil twilight. The southeastern sky is a palette of pinks, reds and golds. The terrain is white as far as I can see. Trees are sculpted and boughs laden with snow. The road is one white path edged by tall berms. Snowy white ptarmigan blend into their equally white environment. The occasional group of reindeer dig in the drifts for food or wander across the road appearing very unconcerned about automobiles.

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Ivalo, Finland and the Aurora Borealis

1 December 2019

I remember in the early 1950s on a clear and extremely lucky night in Northern Indiana, the skies were actually unpolluted enough to see slight colorings of the Aurora Borealis. Sometimes, faint colorations of the Aurora can be sighted in Northern Minnesota. As Agent Fox Mulder knows, the Aurora is out there somewhere. This week, I am in Lapland in search of those colorful curtains of dancing light.

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Finland

Thanksgiving 2019

There are exotic destinations haunting the lists of traveler’s dreams: Antarctic, Africa, Panama Canal, Galapagos Islands, Easter Island. Another list topper is Lapland.

Lapland is associated with Father Christmas, a close relative of Santa Clause who I hear runs a sweatshop in North Pole, Alaska. His winter home after the busy season is in Santa Claus Beach just south of Santa Barbara, California. (more…)