A Norwegian Solstice at Sea

Summer in the Land of the Midnight Sun

I remember watching the glowing globe of the sun, bounce like a yo-yo, lighting up the horizon with a fierce pink as it dipped low, hovering in a moment of time which was neither sunset nor sunrise.

They say that time flies. But does it really?

It’s different here, in the land of the Midnight Sun.

Seasons are short and fierce.

The sun screams in the sky for a few short weeks, that seem almost like eternity, then recedes towards a path of darkness, lit only by a carpet of stars and blazing solar flares.

It’s been a year, exactly, since I shot this photo around two in the morning from the back of the Hurtiguten, Norway’s local ferry boat. I’d ventured to Norway, the land of my ancestors, for the solstice, with a fierce desire to see the midnight sun. I found what I was searching for in the Lofoten Islands, above the Arctic Circle. The memory of these nights haunt me. I hardly slept, for fear of missing a moment of the “almost sunset — almost sunrise.” The sun dipped low, hovering on the horizon of the sea, but never quite set. Instead, the whole world was lit with a fiery pink glow that bathed me in shrouds of the mysteries of time. Then, it began to rise again, eventually morphing into its familiar shape of a glowing, golden ball. But, for a few short moments, time seemed to stop, hovering at the horizon along with the sun.

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Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies). Erika is also an editor for Dharma Talk.

Poem and photos © Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.