I find myself being still. At first I was jittery. When I was not in the lounges on the ship, being social, when I was in my room, I would shuffle through the papers on my desk. Should I write in my trip journal? No, that was all caught up. Could I play a game … Continue reading The Silence of the North
“Listen.” I hear the ice: the rustling crackle of the small floating pieces against our hulls; the swoosh-bang of water sloshing over a shelf on an iceberg; faint, distant crashes, muted to the point where direction was uncertain, only that it came from the frozen reaches of Icefjord. Paddling through the ice at Ilullisset Here … Continue reading In the Ice: Kayaking in the Arctic
“I accept his apology,” said Looee quietly. “Because I feel that you can’t move forward otherwise. But there are those who don’t, and that is their choice.” Less than a week after I left Iqaluit they welcomed another visitor. The Pope chose to come to the north to deliver an apology for the Catholic church’s … Continue reading Reconciliation in the Arctic
“We knew he had Covid. But nobody said anything because we would have all been quarantined and we would have missed the rest of the trip.” I try not to react as the middle-aged American woman spoke with her friends about her bus tour in Ireland. I was eavesdropping, after all— accidentally at first, but … Continue reading Travel in the Time of Covid— Arctic Reprise
There is still paint on the wall behind the inside stairs, and carpet or oilcloth on some of the stairs. The colours are faded, but their presence is the echo of this once being a joyful place. Very little left in this house The windows and doors, the electric fixtures and wiring are gone, scavenged, … Continue reading Abandoned Places
Brave Travels 