I noticed as I travelled further north that the snow on the tops of the mountains was gradually drawing down closer and closer to sea level. When I left Tromso, the snow line was maybe 200 ft up the sides of the mountains around the town and fjord. When we reached Svalbard, we had entered winter completely. There is snow on the roads, snow on the hillsides (all either vertical crags or rubble at the angle of repose) and snow drifted lightly across the rooftops.

I found some of the Arctic Circle people who had come in on my plane, and we were found in turn by the Expedition leader Sarah, and shuttled uphill to the Coalminer’s Cabins. Svalbard was a coal mining outpost for America briefly (Longyearbyen is named after an American, Longyear, who started the mining operation here – he later sold it to the Norwegian government. Byen is town – Longyearbyen is Longyear Town, Nybyen is New Town) and then Norwegian. There are two Russian outposts where they mined coal – they were abandoned in the 1980s, and then dusted off and repainted after the war in Ukraine started.

After settling in some, I walked down the long hill to town. Svalbard, the entire archipelago, has a year round population of 2500 – roughly equal to Smith College’s undergraduate population. They are well equipped, with a library, hospital, daycare and school, and even a branch of the Norwegian University system. I found the coop, where groceries and alcohol are sold, and two outfitters with all the things you need to be comfortable in this environment. I realized I would not be warm enough with just the clothes I had, even counting all my long underwear and sweaters, so I found a down coat that is almost as spherical as Al’s old Michelin Man coat, that he swore was as warm as not getting out of bed in the morning. I think that will help with the cold problem.

I am starting to think of the projects I brought – a small kit of gouache for painting quick sketches, and a stack of fabric in assorted colors to make little stitched images. Now I am wondering if the water in my paintbrushes is going to freeze! Stitching I can do on the ship, in the warm.