Although people think it must be hard to live so far north there’s so much here to help us through the dark cold months. Diamond dust, for instance.
You glance out of the kitchen window and the street is alive with light, there are millions of floating, dancing and falling ice crystals, gently settling on the window ledge, glittering in pinks and blues as they fall, and then twinkling like tiny distant stars from the snow beneath. As if Tinker Bell has waved her magic wand. Just like when you see the northern lights, it’s impossible to feel sorry for yourself.
January is a time you might feel sorry for yourself so there’s a lot of diamond dust about. Last night Kiruna felt as if it sat in a giant structure of light, with pillars of white shooting up into the black sky all around us. Diamond dust again.
This morning, in a clear sky and temperatures below minus 20 degrees, there was a giant candle flame on the horizon. It began as a slightly misshapen sun, peering over the brow of the hills on the edge of town. Tinker Bell waved her wand and released a ton of diamond dust, and then the ball of orange gradually stretched up and out to form a giant candle flame.
A round of applause for one of nature’s magnificent performances.
