ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

I have been following an intrepid bunch of Canadian Seniors who are on an skiing and snowshoeing trip in the far north of Canada.  They call themselves  the Geri-Arctics and are raising money for Alzheimer's Society of B.C.

Geri-Arctics Ellesmere Island Expedition 2019

Their route is on Ellesmere Island which they reached by charter plane.  The plan was to ski/snowshoe/hike for a planned 150 km around Makinson Inlet, latitude ~77 degrees north and taking a month for the trip.

Using Garmin Satelitte technology it was possible to get regular updates.

We have trekked the coasts of England and Wales and have paddled the coast of B.C. in a 37' voyageur canoe. We are Chris (leader), Nancy, Richard, Susan, Sandy, and Alice and Fred. Some of us, including Fred, are former mountaineers."

Where is Ellesmere Island?  Here are two maps from Wikipedia.

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Kathleen Winter's book 'Boundless - Adventures in the Northwest Passage' is about a journey taken through an adjacent part of the Arctic.

Michael Kerr in The Telegraph wrote: she was invited "to spend a fortnight [as a writer on board] a Russian icebreaker [research ship] in the Arctic, Kathleen Winter didn’t hesitate.

The result, Boundless, is subtitled Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage. The newness lies in the way Winter tries to view the Arctic and to respond to it. She wants to see it not through the eyes of the dead white men who sought a way through it, or those of their living counterparts who want to exploit it, but through the eyes of Inuit women who belong to it."

Adventure it is not. Yes, she is interested in following the footsteps of Franklin but as Kathryn Hughes in The Guardian stated: [it's about] "A journey to the Northwest Passage [which] inspires banal meditations on … whatever comes to mind." But her stories she recounts from the people she meets, including one who gives her access to some recently found Franklin papers, more than make up for the various musings.

So if you ever fancy a 'cruise' to this part of the world with professional guides and lecturers and you know you are never going to afford it/organise yourself, this is the book to read.  (I recommended it to a lady-friend of mine and mentioned that I thought it was 'a woman's book'.  She ticked me off for such un-politically correct mutterings!)

GRANDMA GETS READING 1

Twelve year old grand-daughter, Ishbel, is a bookworm. I can categorically say that I have never been what you would call 'a reader'.  Yes, I read off and on but other things being equal I am more often found windmilling around from one project to another.  You would never fine me, as a child or even today, sitting in a corner curled up with a book.

Things are changing! (Maybe old age has something to do with it!)  Chatting to Ishbel about what she's reading these days I decided to have a go at one of her books.  (Actually this all started with Alastair asking me if I had ever read any R L Stevenson ... all of which I have written about elsewhere on this blog.)

So here is my first 'go':

This is a wonderful book and would make a good topic for book club discussion. Yes, it is about teenagers but these teenagers are being treated for cancer or other life-limiting diseases.  It raises lots of questions with no easy answers.  Lots of dialogue and a good shape to the story; well written. 

A second absolute cracker!  Teenage focus with the topic being about racism. Set in America it could be anywhere with universal themes of justice, social mobility,  speaking out when it is easier to keep quiet.  Excellent shape to the story, lots of dialogue... another well-written book.

A book worth reading... certainly not my first choice but Ish (and, indeed, Alastair) are learning about the Holocaust, Judaism, and talk at the dinner table of Tuesdays nights in detail about, for example, Auschwitz: the names of individuals, the types of tattoos and what they stood for, experiments that were done.  Sheessh!  I never knew all that stuff!

At the end of the book the author describes how she came to write the book based on the story of one man's experience of 3 years in this concentration camp.   Latterly she give an overview of how his life played out in subsequent years.

MID-SUMMER'S DAY 2019 - EVENING LIGHT

It is June 21st, the longest day.  It is 10 pm.  I am looking out my window this evening at the sunset in the west.

Tomorrow the dour Scots will be heard saying ...

"Ah the days are drawing in!"

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I have 'dynamic'  wallpaper screensaver on my Mac computer. I love it!  The image changes as the minutes and hours progress throughout the day. 

 Here is what is shows just now at 10:43 pm... really quite accurate!

MIDSUMMER LIGHT AT THIS LATITUDE

The summer has, so far, been cloud-covered and unsettled.  We get what can only be described as 'a lot of weather'.  

For taking photos it can be an advantage if you can catch the moment when the clouds part or you manage to catch the last of the light at the end of the day.

This photo was taken at exactly 10 pm last night June 15th.  I am posting it as a reminder of (a) what not to do and (b) the 'moment'.

Having worked most of the rather dull and wet Sunday on images on the computer I closed down and walked through to close the bedroom curtains of the above window looking out to the garden (south)   The quality of the evening light caught my eye and took a photo from inside (that's what you do not want to do .... must remember that) .  Unfortunately the photo does not show the 'moment' that I caught, namely, seconds later the light had gone... and so had the unknown cat that walked into my picture.  What I was pleased about was that I recognised the light for what it was, i.e. the golden time just before the sunlight goes.  If I had known that initially I would have walked outside ... but by then, of course, I would have missed it.

Next morning at 9 am.  The sun made a brief appearance on the lawn (and was gone... again... for the rest of the day.)   

10 am, just for the record. 

 Irises

Lupins, poppies and irises

A view in the opposite direction

CUNARD CRUISE SHIP 'QUEEN VICTORIA' AT GREENOCK TODAY

Iain is enjoying some quality sailing time with John MacLeod this week.  They are headed for the splendid isolation of the Western Isles.

Me!... this is my idea of Quality Sailing!

This is the Queen Victoria cruise ship built by Cunard departing from her berth in Greenock this evening.  You only need to chat to the folk watching to realize how much they relate to these ships and their movement on the (Clyde) river.

Some extra photos simply because it was a beautiful day!