This morning, as I walked to work, on another day of Arctic sun blazing down from a perfect blue sky, brilliant white snow clinging to the dark rocky mountains, I was struck by a combination of smells, a combination of smells that perfectly reflected my image of Greenland, and which invoked a burning passion for this second home of mine. It might seem strange, but the combination was a tinge of Jet-A1 fuel (kerosene) in the crisp freshness of the otherwise perfectly clean, cold air.
While it may not be entirely true, just about anywhere you could visit in Greenland gives the impression of being some of the most untouched natural beauty you could hope to experience. The air is so clear and cool, it’s like breathing pure emotion. Those cold breaths are at once empty and also brimming over with everything fresh and alive.
So the smell of Jet-A1?
The smell of fuel is something that I cannot separate from my image of Greenland or from my love for Greenland. Those who have spent time here will probably know what I mean. Fuel is a part of every aspect of life in Greenland. Helicopters, Twin Otters, Dash-7s and -8s, and Air Greenland’s sole Airbus 330 passenger aircraft. Airports. These are one of the key places where life happens in Greenland – returning to Greenland, departing for remote settlements, arriving on small airstrips and heliports, reuniting with friends. The combination of fresh air and fuel almost brings a tear to my eye.
I’ve met a few people who didn’t like Greenland, who moved to Greenland and couldn’t get out of here fast enough. But there weren’t many. Almost everyone I know who has spent any time working or living here can’t escape that feeling of longing when they leave, that feeling that there must be some way they can get back again. For me, all of that is tied to that simple combination of smells. Greenland, to me, is the clear crisp boundary where the natural world and the human world meet, the confluence of natural beauty and the visceral reality of human endeavour.
One day I will leave Greenland. But when I smell Jet-A1, I know that Greenland will never leave me.
