As we sail toward Nuuk, the boat crouches in the low space beneath the hovering fog and the mirrored sea, the still water stretching seaward like a sheet of grey metal. The white gates of the cemetary appear on a sloping shore, announcing the approaching town. And stretching out from the gates, two white fences …
Imagine you lost your phone seven hundred kilometres from home on an isolated beach reachable only by sea? What do you reckon your chances of getting it back would be? In Greenland, they seem to be better than you would think. The other week, my husband was working in a field camp in Disko Bay, …
The two boys had been playing all day and, with dinner approaching, I told my son’s friend it was time for him to head home. “Dad can’t pick me up at the moment,” he said, disappointedly packing his bag to head down to the bus stop, “He’s butchering a reindeer.” The first of August is …
The other day, my husband commented that our bean bag could do with more beans, and I scowled. We have a bean bag with a long and mixed history. It was given to my husband by a rather beautiful friend of ours, which – I suspect – is why he remains attached to it. Otherwise …
The audible THUD, over the sound of the engine, was accompanied by a heavy shudder. What on Earth is he doing? I wondered, peering over the bow at the creature only inches below the foaming water, streaming past between us. THUD… He seemed the most enormous dolphin I had seen. A great grey beast, tearing …
It wasn’t a promising start. I opened the official-looking letter to find only a few lines of text. I had been judged “unqualified” for the position for which I had applied – making geological maps of Greenland. Rather harsh, I thought. But it was true. The PhD that was required for this position was still …
I was away for work last week. I missed my family. And sometimes work just gets me down. Sometimes I am ambivalent, indifferent, dispassionate. I don’t like to be that way, but sometimes it’s a struggle to feel like I care about what’s going on around me. I suppose everyone feels like that at times. …
*Image from the National Snow and Ice Data Center It’s a blistering nineteen degrees Celsius on what seems to be a stunning summer’s morning in Nuuk. Coffee on the balcony proves too much for me in the intense morning sun and I retreat indoors. It’s hot. It’s already six degrees hotter than the average high …
A white orb shimmers in and out of watery focus, framed by liquid blue that shields this pale sun from reflected clouds in the silvery, mirrored surface of the sea. The inlet that leads to the old settlement of Kangeq narrows as we approach, rocky walls closing on both sides. Irridescent green vegetation clings to …