Arctic Still Life

by

Ice is cold, writing is lonesome.
We asked our dear Dina to photograph a still life once again. Swiftly we got our Master’s expedition-diary from the ice corner of our library and his best loved fountain pen, the Fat Boy, which lets unspoken words so gently flow onto the paper. Nevertheless, he wrote his diary with a biro. Because the writing is more permanent than everything written with quill and ink. Water and snow fight in vain what’s written with a biro and that’s important on an icebreaker in rough Arctic seas.   

Still ist die Arktis, einsam das Schreiben.
Die liebe Dina baten wir, abermals ein Stilleben zu fotografieren. So holten wir hurtig Masterchens Expeditionstagebuch aus der Eisecke unserer Bibliothek und seinen geliebten Füller, den Fat Boy, der so sanft innere Worte aufs Papier bringt. Sein Tagebuch ist jedoch mit Kugelschreiber geschrieben, denn beständig ist die Schrift mit Kugelschreiber. Länger bleibt sie lesbar als mit Tinte Geschriebenes und, was bei einer Expedition wichtig ist, Wasser und Schnee können ihr nichts antun.

Writing a diary in the Arctic’s loneliness creates security. One charms the uncontrollable nature with words, certainly an illusion to be able to understand and control it. To produce security with writing has a tradition, a tradition that is connoted by the old books in this still life. Security is quite a topic as Jan Mayen, the devil’s island in the polar sea, is mentioned. It’s where the brave Brendan saw the entrance to hell.

In einsamer Arktis Tagebuch schreibend schafft man sich Sicherheit. Man bannt unkontrollierbare Natur ins Wort, mit dem illusorischen Gefühl, sie derart verstehen und kontrollieren zu können. Sicherheit schaffendes Schreiben steht in einer Tradition, wie die alten Bücher im Bild andeuten sollen. Die Sicherheit ist hier besonders wichtig, da Jan Mayen im Bild angesprochen wird, die Teufelsinsel im Eismeer. Hier sah der kühne Brendan den Eingang zur Hölle.

Also, security is produced by the fur that protects us against the rigours of weather. At the same time, it conjures death that makes an adventure really adventurous. Amundsen‘s men wore fur following Inuit-wisdom, Scot’s men wore wool like on an English winter’s day which is highly unsuitable in the Arctic. Memento Mori – easily you can turn to white bleached bones in the ice. The only comfort: dying on an expedition is the best premise for turning immortal by an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica.  

Eine weitere Sicherheit schafft das Fell, das uns vor den Unbillen der Witterung beschützt, aber auch den Tod beschwört, der solch ein Abenteuer erst zum Abenteuer werden lässt. Amundsens Männer trugen, der Inuit-Weisheit folgend, Fell, Scotts Männer wie im englischen Winter Wolle, die für arktische Bedingungen ungeeignet ist. Memento Mori – wie leicht kann man in unbarmherzigen Eis zum gebleicht Knochen werden. Der einzige Trost: Der Tod auf einer Expedition war die beste Voraussetzung, um mit Eintrag in der Encyclopedia Britannica unsterblich zu werden.

Handwritten travel diaries are spontaneous and unmediated unlike the later published versions. We remember the muskox, rolling up their fur for a bookmark sitting on the quarterdeck of the icebreaker. It was under the midnight sun anchoring in front of one of the many glaciers whose name we have long forgotten.  

Reisetagebücher besitzen im Gegensatz zum später veröffentlichten Reisebericht eine Unmittelbarkeit. Wir erinnern wir uns an die Moschusochsen, aus deren Fell wir, auf dem Achterdeck des Eisbrechers sitzend, das Lesezeichen drehten. Unter der Mitternachtssonne, wir lagen vor einem der vielen Gletscherabbrüche, deren Namen uns längst entschwunden ist.

This still life creates an Arctic feeling as authentically as possible without being up North. Oh dear, do we sense there an irony, we as armchair explorers? And more so the glasses let us think of our limited perception of the sublime vastness of the high North that is threatening to devour us.  

Eine arktische Stimmung wurde in diesem Stilleben, so authentisch wie möglich beschworen, ohne sich in die Arktis zu begeben. Huch, sollte das eine Ironisierung von uns als Lehnstuhlexplorer sein? Auch die Brille deutet auf unsere begrenzte Sicht angesichts der erhabenen Weiträumigkeit des hohen Nordens, die uns zu verschlucken drohte.

With giggling greetings from the ice corner of our library 
Mit kichernden Grüßen aus der Eisecke unserer Büchersammlung

Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma 👭 Bookfayries next the Sea

 

© Text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

257 thoughts

  3. ……… tolle Inszenierungen……..
    und ich sah Euch in meiner Phantasie den Meeresgefahren ausgesetzt, frierend in feiner Cashmere-Wolle, unwissend daß Moschusochsen-Fell viel besser für solche Spazierfahrten ist.
    Dabei sitzen sie schmunzelnd am warmen Kachelofen…….. jajaja….! Liebe Grüsse Laura

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Liebe Laura
      von den fröhlichen Lehnstuhlexplorern herzliche Grüße und die besten Wünsche für ein wunderbares Wochenende.
      Übrigens wir trugen in der Arktis keine schweren Felle sondern leichte, bequeme Expeditionskleidung.
      Habe herzlichen Dank
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

  9. Hanne, a wonderful evocative photograph and one I’m drawn to over and over. I so want to reach out for that pen, placed invitingly on the books, open a blank page and write, to reach out and stroke the fur. Beautiful composition – both of objects and words…I love how you’re giggling, letting your thoughts lyrically wander…I once had a leather bound diary and it was may all time favourite and would imagine I was out in exotic travels and it was my only record of life and treated it with the utmost respect out of all my journals. Warmest wishes to you all in Cley, xx

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Annika
      we love our Arctic diaries very much and treat them as something very special. They have an honourary place in the ice corner of our library.
      With the fountain pen our dear Master loves to write his diary about the books he has read.
      Association is this freedom of the mind we really like and Siri und Selma are always associating in a most funny way. That’s faerie talk.
      With warm greetings from the sunny sea and thank you VERY much for kind words
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Hej, Ihr Lieben Vier! Fein! Sehr fein. Tagebücher tun das, was Ihr zu ihnen schreibt, doch eigentlich immer: sie erden….., ob auf Eis, Feuer oder Wasser. Sei es drum. Danke für das Bild aus der Eisecke. Vielleicht folgen andere? Vielleicht der Tanz auf dem Vulkan oder ein Logbuch? Auf jeden Fall wünsche ich Euch gute Tage (war letzte Nacht auch so heftiger Wind bei Euch?) und viel Inspiration. Herzliche Grüsse Ruth

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Hi, liebe Ruth,
      wir hatten die letzten Tage eine steife Brise, aber heute ist es sonnig, warm und windstill.
      Ja, da hast du wohl Recht, Tagebücher erden. Dazu macht das Tagebuchschreiben einem auch Zusammenhänge klar und man versteht besser – zumindest uns geht’s so, dass uns beim Schreiben vieles einfällt (“was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält”).
      Wir bloggten zuvor bereits mehrfach ausführlich über unsere Fahrten nach NO Grönland, Jan Mayen, Spitzbergen. Das war meistens auf Masterchens und unserem alten Blog, zu dem wir hier die Links setzten.
      Wir wünschen dir ein wunderschönes Wochenende und danke für deinen Kommentar
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks a lot 🙂 🙂
      Go up North into the world of ice of the high Arctic was a great adventure, indeed! We loved it.
      With lots of love.
      Happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Thank you VERY very much 🙂 🙂
      We love the high Arctic and arranging such an Arctic still life brings back all the memories of our travels up North into the world of ice and midnight sun.
      We wish you a GREAT weekend as well. We suppose you have such a glorious weather as we have.
      Have fun and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Grandios!!! Die Collage, die Worte, sensationell!!!
    Aber, oje, jetzt steigen Gedanken auf, die ich noch nie dachte und Gefühle, die ich noch nie fühlte…..
    Oje…
    Habe gehört, dass sie in den Kindergärten den Kindern keine Pflaster mehr aufkleben dürfen…ich werde Susanne fragen oder Britta, was sie statt dessen machen…warten bis die Mutti kommt?! Einfach bluten lassen?!….
    So ihr seht/lest, ich muss mich zurück ziehen…und erst mal die Gedanken ordnen…
    Cooles Shirt! Die Mäntel dieser Marke sind unerschwinglich teuer…
    Schönes Wochenende wünscht euch und den Kicherfeen, Pia

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Lebe Pia,
      ja, habe gaaaaaanz herzlichen Dank für deinen lieben Kommentar.
      Wir haben auch niemals Pflaster auf Expeditionen benutzt sondern Uhu-Klebstoff. Der ist keimfrei und verschließt die Wunde bestens und reißt sie beim Abziehen nicht wieder auf.
      Das Shirt kaufte Masterchen in der Wetterstation dort einem ab. Cool nicht?!
      Ein wunderschönes Wochenende wünschen wir dir
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Dear Derrick
      I experience inky fingers as well, not that I am left handed but after getting the ink in the tank. But nevertheless I love my fountain for writing that smoothly.
      I saw on your blogpost that you have the same fountain pen as me. I got it given by Dina. It was a great Christmas present.
      All the best and enjoy the weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Ihr Lieben, ein wundervolles Stillleben, das bewegt! Ich denke an meine ersten Reisetagebücher, die ich damals noch mit Bleistift schrieb, heute sind sie nahezu unleserlich geworden, schade! Aber es bleiben ja die Erinnerungen und die verblassen zwar hier und dort auch, aber das ist eben das Leben!
    Gerne habe ich den Artikel gelesen und schwupps war ich wieder inmitten der Eisberge, die ich in der Realität noch nie gesehen habe, aber schon immer faszinierend fand.
    Nach meinem Morgenspaziergang unter strahlend blauem Himmel wünsche ich euch einen goldenen Tag,
    herzliche Grüße
    Ulli

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Guten Morgen, liebe Ulla,
      ach, wir dachten, dass mit Bleistift geschriebene Tagebücher (fast) ewig lesbar blieben. Masterchen besitzt uralte, mit Kuli geschriebene, die noch nach 50 Jahren gut lesbar sind. Aber, wie du schreibst, vielleicht ist das auch gut, dass alte Erinnerungen verblassen und für neue Platz machen.
      Wir finde ja die Welt des Eises und der Mitternachtssonne das Schönste, was wir in unserem Leben gesehen haben. Besonders NO Grönland ist großartig, aber auch Jan Mayen mit dem nördlichsten Vulkan auf unserer Erde, und der Norden von Svalbard.
      Wir haben hier auch wunderschönes Wetter und werden gleich einen kleinen Ausflug machen.
      Alles Gute und auch dir ein tolles Wochenende
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Dear friends, I love this besutifully composed still life and still lifes in general.
    A still-life form gives the artist/photographer much more freedom in the arrangement of elements within a composition than do paintings/photos of landscape or portraiture and your creativity and excellent photography is just fabulous. A great way to tell something about oneself. Well done. All four of you.
    Have a lovely weekend,
    Kram, Annalena x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Our dear friend Annalena,
      thank you so much for liking our blogpost.
      Arranging a still life is a kind of iconographic association and the words, as part of the still life, are an association of thoughts – it’s a freedom of the mind.
      Los of love
      The Fab Four of Cley xxxx

      Like

  20. Fab Four of Cley__
    It is quite apropos for this post that in the area below the text for ‘Related’ shows 2 still life photos and ‘The Discovery of Silence in Norway” – all 3 compliment the post today.
    Thank you, dear friends.
    GP Cox

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Our dear friend GP Cox
      thank you very much for commenting. Indeed, we do quite some blogposts that compliment each other. It’s more or less the same topic that we are blogging about like you do with your excellent posts about the WW II in the Pacific.
      Wishing you a GREAT and sunny weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Your still life puts a big smile on my face. 🙂 Lovely to see creativity in this form and a stille life without a flower arrangement in a vase.
    Ha en god helg!
    KLEM
    Hjerter

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Guten Morgen (gerade noch, bevor unsere Uhr 12 schlägt), lieber Jürgen,
      schön, dass dir unser Stilleben gefällt. Es ist wunderbar real zugleich wie Vieles in der Arktis.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom sonnigen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  25. Late to this, as I have been away.
    The still life is lovely, and so evocative. I also have a Mont Blanc pen, a gift from an ex-wife.
    As always, your combination of text and photo is just right, like a visit from a good friend.
    Love from Beetley, Pete and Ollie. X

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Pete,
      our dear Master got his Mont Blanc pen as a gift as well. It was a Christmas present from our beloved Dina.
      Great that you like our blogpost 🙂 🙂
      With lots of love from the sunny sea
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi,
      our dear Dina thinks in Norwegian, our beloved Bookayries think in Fayrish and our dear Master thinks in German. Our everyday communication takes place in German. We are all fluently in German.
      Happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

  27. Thanks to the coordinates on your tee shirt, I found your location on Google earth, and envied such a wonderful expedition. Jan Mayen itself is as isolated as any ship’s crew in an Arctic ocean. It’s interesting that there was a LORAN station there until the system was retired. However effective it was for navigating, a journal is far better for recording the realities of such a place.

    The still life itself reminded me instantly of a wonderful and terrifying poem by Linda Bierds. Titled “Erebus,” it also records a journey, albeit one far more unhappy than yours: the Franklin expedition’s search for the Northwest Passage.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks a lot for commenting.
      Jan Mayen plaid an important role during WW II because of the weather station there. Weather stations were necessary for the war in the Arctic, especially the convoys. Nowadays the World Weatherstation No. 1 is on Jan Mayen. As you write the LORAN is switched off, it never played such an important role as the weather station at the foot of the Beerenberg.
      Oh dear, the Franklin expedition and the searching expedition that got lost as well … That’s the hard side of the Arctic.
      Wishing you a sunny weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      Thanks for the link to this poem “Erebus”

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Of course this is right down my line! What a beautiful still life and interestings reflections.
    Spending so much time in the Arctic Norway, I’ve only visited Jan Mayen once. It was, as most of the days on JM, a foggy day and I could hardly see the Beerenberg. Did you have better weather on your expedition?
    Love and hugs to you all from Tromsø,
    Per Magnus

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Our dar friend Per Magnus
      the statistics say that 350 days per year you have fog in Jan Mayen. But we were lucky, leaving the island we could see the Beerenberg quite clear for about one or two minutes until it disappeared in the fog again. Who has landed on Jan Mayen and seen the Beerenberg’s top was acknowledged as a real explorer. To land on Jan Mayen was always very dangerous, we needed 4 tries to be able to land with our Zodiak from the icebreaker.
      Lots of love xxxx and hugs #### to you
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Dear Robert
      well, we have been to high Arctic, NE Greenland, Jan Mayen, Bear Island and Svalbard. But now we are sitting at home and love remembering our expeditions – and planning new journeys. …
      All the best to you.
      Wishing you a wonderful weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Wir finden auch die Arktis beruhigend beunruhigend. Dort gibt es keine Bäume. Inuit, die in den Süden kommen, sind völlig erschrocken Bäume zu sehen.
      Hier ist der Sommer zurückgekommen. Es ist windstill, 25 Grad C wird von heute bis Montag erwartet, und die Sonne scheint aus blauen Himmel auf ein spiegelglattes Meer.
      Liebe Grüße
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Wir haben hier nach absoluten tollem Sommer einen wunderschönen Indian Summer. Da waren wir wieder am Meer und in den Marschen, die Schwärme von Wildgänsen zu betrachten. Siri und Selma lieben es, mit ihnen den V-Flug zu üben.
      Hab ‘ne schöne Woche
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Joan,
      thank you very much for commenting 🙂 🙂
      Well, that’s our dear Master’s diary, it was written when the icebreaker left the Scoresby Sound/SE Greenland to go SE to Jan Mayen and the Bear Island. They had to make several detours as the entrance from the Scoresby Sound to the open sea was blocked by grounded icebergs.
      We wish you a GREAT weekend
      Hugs and Kisses
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  40. It’s a beautiful still life. The diary, the pen, and the biro reminded me of how difficult it was for the early Antarctic explorers to write their reports and journals. They would have been glad of a biro.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Gallivanta
      the problem is that in really low temperatures a biro doesn’t write well. We noticed it when temperatures sank under minus 25 C.
      They used a lead pencil as ink will freeze.
      Thanks and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Gallivanta
      A lot of everyday life gadgets nowadays need batteries, they cause big problems under cold conditions as well, they run down immediately. We were always carrying the batteries for our Nikons on our body for keeping them warm. Our experience: A battery in quite a normal temperature of about minus 40 C holds just the energy for one or two pictures.
      A happy week wishing you
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Many American readers may not understand what a biro is. Here it’s called a ballpoint pen. Curious about the origin of the term biro, I just found out from Wikipedia that László József Bíró “patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen.”

      Liked by 1 person

    • I read the Wikipedia entry and it was a great read. I used either fountain pen or pencil for most of my student life. In the late 70s when I started work for the first time I had a ballpoint pen. It was far more precious than a fountain pen at that time because the ballpoint refills were very expensive. I remember, too, that official forms could be filled out in ink or ballpoint pen. The word biro was not used much. It was only when the ballpoint pen became disposable that I noticed a change to the word biro or Bic. Nowadays in New Zealand most people would probably just call it a pen. I rarely hear the term biro.

      Liked by 1 person

    • I see that Bic is also derived from a family name. According to Wikipedia, “Société BIC S.A., commonly referred to simply as BIC and stylized as BiC, is a corporation based in Clichy, France, best known for making ballpoint pens. It was founded in 1945 by Baron Marcel Bich….”

      Liked by 3 people

    • Dear Joanne
      the farthest North we ever reached was 84,5 degrees. The Arctic is by far the most magnificent area we have been. We haven’t ever seen anything that’s that beautiful. We especially love the fjords of the NE coast of Greenland.
      Nowadays you can reach Svalbard very easy and northern Svalbard is grand as well or the Disco area in W Greenland which is also easy to reach.
      Thanks and happy Sunday
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Joanne
      we experienced both the Midnight Sun as well as the Northern Lights and the dark Arctic days. Well, to experience both you have to go for the Midnight Sun end of June or July (it depends of how far north you go) and for the aurora borealis you go best during the winter. Actually you don’t need to go that far north, Tromsø is an ideal place, easy to reach. But that isn’t really Arctic, at least not high Arctic.
      We keep our fingers crossed that you will experience both the Midnight Sun as well as the aurora borealis soon.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • May we remember that Shackleton died in the polar region (Antarctica) and is buried on South Georgia. He was on the way to a new expedition to the farthest South.
      Thanks and have a happy Sunday
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • I know. I translated that part, too. At first I couldn’t understand why he was buried in Georgia of all places, then I discovered it wasn’t really Georgien but Südgeorgien. It made sense then. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • South Georgia was the most important whaling station in the South and the end of Shackleton’s heroic crossing of the sea from Elephant to there and the crossing of that high mountain ridge of the island down to the whaling station. Nowadays South Georgia is place well visited by cruise ships – oh dear …
      Actually South Georgia is quite a beautiful island with high mountains inland.
      With warm greetings from the sea
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • We think that handwritten journals and diaries carry a special magic with them. It’s like “the real thing”, authentic.
      We never counted how many countries we visited but we can say that our expeditions to the Arctic by far were the most impressive and beautiful we have experienced.
      Thanks and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  48. Hallo Ihr Lieben
    das Tagebuch – handschriftlich und mit Farbskizzen – gefaellt mir ganz ausgezeichnet. Ich wuenschte, wir koennten das auch bei Mary’s Reisetagebuch. Aber auch so geniesse ich es, ihr Reisetagebuch wieder zu lesen, wenn ich es als Grundlage fuer meine Reiseberichte nehme.
    Habt’s fein im kleinen Dorf am grossen Meer,
    Pit

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Guten Abend, lieber Pit,
      ich liebe es, handschriftlich mit kleinen Skizzen ein Tagebuch unserer Reisen zu führen. Das habe ich auch immer wieder benutzt, um Texte herauszuziehen, die ich für Veröffentlichungen verwerten wollte. Warum kannst du denn nicht eine Seite z.B. von Marys Reisetagebuch ablichten?
      Wir machten heute einen langen Spaziergang am Meer und durch die Marschen, wo immer wieder Schwärme von Wildgänsen auftauchten. Das Licht war so großartig, dass Hanne-Dina völlig aus dem Häuschen war.
      Dir und Mary wünschen wir eine wunderschön fröhliche Woche, hat’s fein.
      Liebe Grüße vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hallo Klausbernd,
      nachdem ich vor ein paar Tagen meine alten Fuellfederhalter wiedergefunden habe, sollte ich auch mal wieder anfangen, (mehr) von Hand zu schreiben. Vielleicht wuerde sich meine Sauklaue da ja sogar verbessern. 😉 Daran, eine Seite [oder auch mehrere] aus Mary’s Reisetagebuch zu scannen [oder so], hatte ich auch schon gedacht. Aber es ist doch nur Text. Wenn wir darin auch solche Skizzen haetten wie Du, dann sofort!
      Ihr hattet also eine schoene Wanderung. Wenn Dina bei dem Licht total aus dem Haeuschen war, dann koennen wir ja bald wieder wundervolle Fotos erwarten.
      Ich habe mir einen ruhigen Tag gemacht, bzw. bin noch immer dabei. Ich sitze immer noch daran, die Fotos von unserem RoadTrip zu bearbeiten und auszumisten. Ganz besonders Sioux Falls macht da “Probleme”. Der Park und der Wasserfall da waren einfach zu schoen, und ich habe drauflos geknipst wie ein Wilder. Schlimmer als Japaner – wenn ich das einmal so voellig “politically incorrect” ausdruecken soll. 😀 Aber jetzt habe ich eben den Salat, wie man so sagt, und muss loeschen, loeschen, loeschen! Kommt aber, auch wenn’s manchmal schwer faellt.
      Danke fuer die lieben Gruesse, auch Euch eine schoene Woche, und macht’s gut im kleinen Dorf am grossen Meer,
      Pit & Mary
      P.S.: Ab Mittwoch bin ich fuer 2 Wochen Strohwitwer, denn Mary geht auf grosse Reise – nach China!

      Liked by 2 people

    • Lieber Pit
      irgendwie erzieht ein toller Füller zum schöneren Schreiben. Der völlig regelmäßige Tintenfluss ist schon ein Genuss und der sanfte Druck einer weichen Feder ebenso. Außerdem schreibe ich viel langsamer als auf meinem Notebook, d.h. auch überlegter. Die Notebooktastatur meines MacAir, auf dem ich für gewöhnlich schreibe, verführt mich zum schnellen Scheiben, ja, schneller zu schreiben, als ich denke. Ich schreibe zunehmend mehr per Hand, auch aus ästhetischen Gründen. Eine anmutig regelmäßige Schrift ist wie eine Graphik.
      Dann wünschen wir dir, dass du deine Strohwitwer-Zeit gut überstehst. Das machst du bestimmt, da sind wir uns sicher.
      Ja, das Löschen der Fotos: auf meiner letzten Fahrt ins Eis nahm ich tgl. etwa 50 bis 100 Fotos auf. In der Kabine vorm Essen löschte ich blutenden Herzens immer alle bis auf zwei. Das hatte ich mir als Disziplin verschrieben. Das war bisweilen ein innerer Kampf, kann ich dir sagen. Dina kämpft auch immer, noch etwas Platz auf ihrer iCloud zu haben, was löschen, löschen und nochmals löschen heißt. Ich finde es oft schwer zu beurteilen, welches denn nun das beste Bild ist, das behaltenswert ist.
      Dann mach’s ‘mal gut. Hab’s fein.
      Gaaaanz liebe Grüße an dich und Mary
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lieber Klausbernd,
      gerade habe ich fuer meine diversen Fuellfederhalter Tintenpatronen bestellt. Du siehst, ein Anfang ist gemacht! Ich stimme Dir zu: es ist schon ein aesthetischer Genuss, mit einem Fueller zu schreiben. Was fuer mich hinzukommt, wenn ich “von Hand” schreibe: weniger Fehler. Beim Tippen am Computer passieren mir sehr viele Vertipper, die ich dann nicht alle finde, wenn ich – falls ich das ueberhaupt tue – Korrektur lese. Am Bildschirm finde ich das sehr schwierig.
      Was meine Fotos angeht: da kommt Vieles zusammen. Zum Einen ist da die neue Kamera, mit der ich auf unserem Roadtrip manchmal ziemlich munter drauflos geknipst habe. Die Bilder muss ich jetzt ver-/bearbeiten und dann werten, welche ich behalte, und welche ich sofort verwerfe. Bei manchen dauert das, weil ich hin und her vergleiche. Ich nutze jetzt auch die Moeglichkeiten meines Bildbearbeitungsprogramms, die Bilder zu katalogisieren und zu verschlagworten. Da kann ich spaeter besser suchen. Ausserdem – da ich die Bilder mit “Noten” von 1 bis 5 bewerte – kann ich so in weiteren Durchgaengen dann auch weiter eliminieren. Das Riesenproblem aber: ich muesste das auch fuer alle meine frueheren Bilder tun, und meine digitale Bildersamm;ung faengt 1998 an. Mir graust!!!
      Apropos Bilder speichern: ich habe keinen richtigen Cloud-Speicher, ausser Dropbox – fuer Bilder, die ich mit meinem Smartphone mache, und fuer die schnelle Bereitstellung auf Computer und Laptop. Meine “Cloud” steht hier im Arbeitszimmer, auf dem Regal neben dem Router: eine 3 Terabyte Western Digital Festplatte. Sie ist direkt mit dem Router verkabelt, und ich kann sie nicht nur aus meinem Heimnetzwerk heraus mit jedem meine Computer ansprechen, sondern auch – ueber das Internet – von ueberall aus, wo ich einen Internetzugang habe. Das ist ganz ungemein praktisch. Ich nutze sie auch als Backup-Medium fuer alle meine Daten, indem ich immer mal wieder meinen Computer und meinen Laptop mit dieser Festplatte synchronisiere.
      Liebe Gruesse an Euch Alle im kleinen Dorf am grossen Meer,
      Pit
      P.S.: ich bin ganz zuversichtlich, dass ich meine Strohwitwerzeit gut ueberstehe, aber … es gibt Schoeneres als hier alleine rumzuhocken. Du kennst das ja.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Mit einem Füller zu schreiben ist schon sehr viel anders als auf einer Tastatur. Mein Stil wird zB viel besser.
      Mit den Fotos heißt es löschen, löschen und löschen, sonst beherrschen die Fotos dich.
      Liebe 💕 Grüße
      💃🚶👭
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hallo Klausbernd,
      also ich glaube, die Fotos beherrschen eher meine diversen Festplatten als mich. 😉 Aber Du hast natuerlich Recht: loeschen ist wirklich angeasagt.
      Liebe gruesse,
      Pit

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Dunelight
      thank you very much for liking our still life 🙂 🙂
      Indeed, it took us quite a while to arrange all items in the way we would like to have them, that it makes sense, looks beautiful and radiates an Arctic feeling.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

  50. Love the evocative picture, especially the hand written diary and the delicate and exquisite little water colour illustration… the whole thing a little work of art…
    Living this end of the world, I am an afficionado of the Antarctic explorers, and was interested in your comments about fur versus wool… Amundsen V Scott… one could also compare the wonderful huskies who whisked Amundsen’s men to the Pole, while poor old Scott and his men trudged all the way… and of course Amundsen’s team thrived on dog and seal meat and livers and never got scurvy unlike Scott’s team on their awful diet. I read recently that they need not have starved to death – plus coping with exhaustion from no food. Scott’s second in command, Evans, who he sent back early because he was developing scurvy, took the rations Scott had deposited for the journey back, and didn’t deliver Scott’s message about sending a dog team out to meet them .. these facts have just come to light in the diaries of Scott and Doctor Wilson, thus putting a different light on Scott’s organisation…sad…they could have survived if their stores had not been raided by their heartless and irresponsible colleague…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Valerie,
      the biggest problem was Scott’s Englishness, we suppose. He was too proud, or call it stupid, to learn from the Inuit. His idea was the English know better because they are superior but they didn’t know a thing. A typical English disease. Therefore Scott’s men didn’t use dog teams f.e.
      Anyway, Amundsen was much better organized, much faster and much better equipped. He and his men could travel that fast because they were traveling light with their dog sledges.
      You seem to be interested in polar exploration as well. Another interesting topic of these explorations was how to make somebody a hero like Amundsen, Shackleton, Nansen, Franklin and Nordenskjöld. These were the first celebrities in the beginning of modern media. – We are not quite sure if to believe this story of Evans (we read it as well) because the diaries are open for everybody to read since 1912, and nobody should have noticed this before? There is quite a movement in England to save the honour of Scott and the navy with fake informations. We think, the English are just bad losers.
      Thanks for commenting and wishing you a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Clausbernd – Fascinated by your reply… everyone’s point of view is so different… I see Amundsen as being fortunate in being Norwegian and therefore having the opportunity to connect with and learn from the Inuit, while Scott was not stupid, but a respected scientist as well as sailor. His Englishness prevented him from using dogs, he wrote he couldn’t bear the thought of using and eating them like Amundsen… Amundsen’s lead dog began screaming every day when they harnessed him up, and he screamed all day. Finally he dropped dead, and when Amundsen’s curiosity caused him to open up the dead dog, he found ‘an enormous abscess covering his chest’ in Amundsen’s words… This would never have happened with Scott and his men who loved animals, and would have wanted to alleviate the dog’s screaming.
      Scott was an honourable man, and would never have behaved in the un-ethical way of Amundsen who pretended he was going to the Arctic, and then when at sea, heading South, he told his men they were going to the Antarctic. So Scott discovered he was not just leading a scientific expedition, but was involved in an unsought race to the Pole.
      He was not a bad loser… he took full responsibility, writing those memorable words which composer Vaughn Williams set to music: ‘We took risks, we knew we took them: things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence determined to do our best unto the last.’
      Your words about the English being bad losers, and using fake news stirred up many thoughts, including my reading of charming Count Lichnowsky’s fascinating memoirs. He was ambassador to England before WW1, and published all his telegrams begging the Kaiser not to invade Belgium, plus the Kaiser’s replies. He wrote his memoirs because he was so anxious that Germany and Germans were not accepting responsibility for starting the war, the atrocities in Belgium etc etc, plus not accepting that they had lost the war. (The famous phrase used by Germans about the ‘ stab in the back’, was unwittingly coined by an English ambassador replying to a German by saying, ‘so you think you were stabbed in the back?’, and it was then used as an excuse in Germany.
      When I lived at Belsen in ’46/’47, ( my father’s regiment was stationed there) my stepmother was horrified to discover that our home had been the house of the Notorious Beast of Belsen. My brother was born at Hanover hospital, and on the five nights my father visited, on two of them he was run off the road by angry hostile Germans seeing a lone British military vehicle. My father ended up in hospital Emergency for his wounds. And even as a nine year old I knew when a woman in Bergen village called us ‘invaders’ that we were not, that we had been forced to defeat Hitler, rescue the victims of Belsen etc. But these angry people did not induce me to call all Germans bad losers.
      As a therapist of thirty years experience, I would feel I should analyse myself if I felt hostile and judgemental enough to project words like ‘stupid,’ or ‘bad losers’ on others…
      This is a very long reply, but you raised huge issues…

      Liked by 1 person

    • Don’t worry, Valerie. Siri and Selma “uncluttered” the comment with no effort at all. 🙂 Thank you kindly for contributing to the conversation.
      Best regards, Dina

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi, dear Valerie
      thank you very much for detailed reply.
      Well, Amundsen brought all his men back home. How Amundsen and Scott treated animals: Scott’s horses suffered and died although it was known that horses are unfit for polar situations and let not Scott lead his men to death. Anyway there are piles of literature about it. The basic difference between Amundsen and Scott is that Amundsen learned a lot from the Inuit and lived with them for quite a while when sailing the NW passage. Scott had the abstruse idea to conquer the pole with horses alien to the polar regions.
      Anyway I think Amundsen wouldn’t have been my friend but he was a great explorer in my understanding. Amundsen was not an easy person. I think the best (and critical) book about Amundsen is by Tor Bomann-Larsen “Roald Amundsen: en Biografi” (Cappelsen, Oslo 1995). The unabridged diaries of Scott published 1913 are another source about this race to the pole.
      I was brought up in Scandinavia, partly in the Arctic, and Dina is borne in Amundsen’s hometown, I took part in an expedition to NE Greenland and a little bit further north and can understand Amundsen much better than Scott.
      So much for Amundsen and Scott. It’s obvious that the English literature like Ranulph Fiennes f.e. is in favour of Scott whereas the Scandinavian, American and German literature is more in favour of Amundsen.
      Seeing it from a psychological point of view you have to be quite anankastic and in a way one-dimensional with a trait of masochism to be an explorer. I found this article https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-24/edition-1/psychology-end-world quite interesting in this respect and you will find a lot of literature there (psychological studies of people’s behaviour in the polar regions).
      Thanks for this interesting exchange of ideas
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Klausbernd, How fascinating that you have actually been to the Arctic and done a Polar expedition… what an experience… all I have are shelves of books on all the Antarctic expeditions, and the experience of meeting Ranulph Fiennes and his first wife Virginia.
      Yes, the ponies were a dreadful mistake, and Scott wrote despairingly in his diary that he ‘ had had enough of this cruelty to animals’ before they killed them, and refused to let the expedition eat them… Birdie Bowers used to secretly give his nightly biscuits to them, while Bill Wilson gave them all his ration the night before they died! Laurie Oates, the cavalry officer, was always in despair over them…did you know there was a Norwegian, Gran on the expedition…
      I saw the film Scott of the Antarctic when I was ten, and wept buckets when they killed the ponies… blow the men, their tragedy didn’t bother me !!!!
      I shall try to follow up your others leads… thank you…

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Valerie
      on our old blog (the links are leading to it) you can see pictures of the high Arctic and read some reflections about the reception of the polar regions in literature and philosophy.
      The scenery of the high Arctic is just grand and especially the light and the silence you can hear. We had the feeling that silence became space there.
      I didn’t know that a Norwegian took part in Scott’s expedition. Thanks for this info.
      We have never been to Antarctica we only know the Arctic a bit. Siri and Selma und I lived for quite some time in Arctic Finland, took part in an expedition and visited Greenland, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, well, we fell in love with the Arctic. But we travelled comparatively comfortable as we stayed on a warm (Russian) icebreaker. But on our trips on the ice shelf we encountered snow storms and temperatures down to minus 30 C.
      Thank you for sharing your experiences and we are very much impressed that you met Ranulph Fiennes (one of his old teachers at Eton lives in our village).
      Did you write about the Arctic? I published one novel as eBook playing partly on Greenland, unfortunately that’s in German only. And how come that you are so knowledgeable about the Polar expeditions?
      Oh dear, now I have to help in the kitchen.
      With warm greetings from the sea
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Klausbernd,
      What a beautiful description of the silence and space of the Arctic regions… how lucky you were to be able to experience such magic… and what a tantalising exchange of comments… I would love to talk !!!
      You ask about my interest in the Antarctic… partly because of knowing Sir Edmund Hillary and his first wife Louise who was killed in an air crash, and partly, because my former husband who has known Sir Edmund Hillary since he climbed Everest and my husband broke the news to Ed’s parents in ’53. My husband later wrote a biography of Sir Ed which included his expedition to the Antarctic ( when he did an un-ethical thing too, and raced to the Pole unbeknown to the team expedition’s leader, Sir Vivian Fuchs).
      However before then my shelves groaned with books on the Antarctic, including – as you mention – Scott’s diaries… but my shelves also groan with all my other passions… American Civil War, European Royal houses up to 1915, World War One and Two, Klimt and the Viennnese Secessionists, writers and poets before ’39, African explorers, Middle Eastern travellers and explorers, Wellington and Napoleon’s campaigns ending with countless books on Waterloo, jewellery, genealogy, gardening, diaries from Pepys and Evelyn in 1660 up to the present day, Captain Cook’s voyages… I could go on.. but have probably bored you enough already !!!
      Anyway, it has been a really illuminating exchange of comments, thank you so much, very best wishes, Valerie
      PS will be exploring your pictures of the polar regions…

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Valerie
      thank you so much for your kind commentary full of information.
      It really is a pity that we live that far from each other. It would be great to have a chat.
      I met Sir Edmund Hillary in 1963 in Nepal when he was there for the tenth anniversary of his his ascent of the Everest. I was hiking with friend in Nepal – not even tried to climb the Everest 😉
      We Fab Four love big libraries. We collect books of polar expeditions, Scandinavian literature, everything about symbolism and structuralism, some books about mathematics and physics, German and English classics, medieval literature and illuminated manuscripts, and nautical books. Now we are giving in all our books into a library programme, but, oh dear, it takes a lot of time. For the first 2000 books we already needed a month and that was one room only with the shortest shelves. Nevertheless, we love to digitalise our library. Not only that it makes it easier to find books but also preventing buying doubles when visiting antiquarian bookshops.
      I thank you very, very much for our exchange.
      Now I have to translate the text for our next blog. Keep well and healthy and have a wonderful time. All the best
      Klausbernd
      and the rest of The Fab Four of Cley
      Post Scriptum: You didn’t bore me at all describing the topics of the books of your library.

      Liked by 1 person

    • The Fat Boy writes like with a soft feather. Our dear Master uses it for years, all the time the flow of ink was smoothly and still is. And he loves that this fountain pen has some weight. It’s easier to write nicely with a heavier pen than with a light one.
      Thanks and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Well I did use a thick Mont Blanc back in mid 1990s – but now I like these thinner gel pens – not fine tip either 😉
      And so nice to hear u mention pens because so many folks just don’t write anymore with pens

      Liked by 1 person

    • I have to admit I sometimes use fineliners too, but I love my fountain pen. Fountain pens had quite a tradition in my family – and I suppose in many families on the continent – your parents gave you a good fountain pen for your 18th birthday. But this fountain pen was given to me by Dina a couple of years ago.
      All the best
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Ahhhh – Dina gave a great gift! And how cool to do the pens for an 18th. Day – here we do watches – usually – or money –
      Side note – I am shocked at how many college students don’t even carry pens – they have pads and laptops and when they need to write something it is usually on a device with notes – they are missing out on the beauty of pens in general – let alone a good fat boy!!

      Liked by 2 people

    • It’s not only they let out on the beauty of writing by hand they can’t write legible after a while. And it changes the style too, one writes a different style on the computer as with pencil on paper. To write a beautiful style becomes the privilege and signature of a kind of intellectual upper class.
      Anyway, everything is changing all the time and so we are entering a paperless time with all its consequences and fountain pens (like books) will become an antique.
      Thanks
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Adrian,
      thank you very much. Well, you know we love the high Arctic 🙂 🙂
      Hanne-Dina is very happy that you like her photography. She says “thank you!”.
      Wishing you and Chris a wonderful week as well
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  53. I truly enjoyed catching up on your blog after all the real life happenings of last months and a long time away from “proper internet”…sympathizing with the desire to flee from the cruise ship crowd, pondering the reasons, real and imagined, for keeping on blogging and the philosophical writings from the ice corner. It all felt surprisingly warm 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Tiny
      thank you VERY much! We are happy to have you back here 🙂 🙂
      Sometimes we flee “proper internet” and then we are happy to be back and communicate bustling blogging. We need this intellectual exchange.
      Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Jacqui
      there is a thrill to live such a ascetic life that is forced on you in Arctic regions. A friend of ours lived totally isolated in a little hut in the East of Antarctica for one year. He did some research there. We wouldn’t like such a life but he loved it and wants to go again. We enjoyed very much little expeditions of several weeks but living on an icebreaker then and not on ice. The scenery is grand and the light even more so.
      But we have Scandinavian blood in our veins. We need the clarity of the cold and love snow and ice.
      Thanks and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  56. This is my favourite of your still life photos yet. So many lovely textures, so beautifully and creatively laid out and so many objects to look at and wonder about. The fountain pen, the old books, the tuft of wool. I love the muted colours too. Colours that instantly make me think of the cold and iciness of the north. One object escapes me though. What is that in the centre? Some kind of animal bone?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, dear Jude, for your kind words 🙂 🙂
      This object is an old bone of a walrus. We found it on one of these lonely beaches of the Scoresby Sound (NE Greenland).
      Great that our still life radiates this Arctic feeling. It was our task to produce such a feeling without presenting pictures of the Arctic. Well, we thought you can see pictures of icebergs, floating ice and brash ice quite often nowadays so we have to present the Arctic in a different way. If you see similar pictures too often they loose their power therefore we had to look for a new way to express what the Arctic is like.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

  59. Faszinierend wie ein Stilles Leben so viel in Bewegung setzen kann….
    Gestern hörte ich mich unterrichten: Wisst ihr, Mädchen, es ist nicht Denken und nicht Fühlen, was ihr zum Tanzen braucht. Ihr solltet empfinden…
    Es ist eine schöne Stimmung in diesem Blogbeitrag, sehr viel Raum für Empfindung, das liebe ich.
    Eure Pia

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Danke, liebe Pia, für deine lieben Worte 🙂 🙂
      Wir haben uns auch alle bei unserem Lieblingsthema sehr viel Mühe gegeben. Spaß hat’s gemacht und Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma waren ganz aufgeregt dabei.
      Liebe Grüße von der heute regnerischen, kühlen Küste
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Ein träumerisch-arktischer Zustand…jetzt bräuchte man nur noch anständige Traumdeuter….
      Hey, ich klopfe mir einfach mal auf die Schulter,
      (Unser Abi87 Kurs verbrachte eine Nacht in Daniel´s Nightclub, einer Cocktailbar in Hornchurch…Georgia fand die Getränkekarte in ihrer Erinnerungsbox, wir schicken uns gerade peinliche Fotos und sonstiges und lachen uns schlapp…dazwischen leichte Wehen der Erkenntnis)
      Die Lektorin meines Studiengangs zur Kinderbuchautoren meinte zum letzten Text: Aufheben, ihre biografisch angehauchte Erzählung einer Schwimmstunde eignet sich für einen “Frauenroman”…

      Liebe Buchfeen, wie genial seid ihr eigentlich!!! Kühlung der Nerven von innen und außen ist manchmal ratsam….
      Jonas dreht hier gleich durch, letzte Prüfung heute 14 Uhr, er versucht sich mit Atmen und Turnübungen zu entspannen…morgen feiern wir dann wieder…..

      Meine kleinen Tänzerinnen tanzen gerade am liebsten auf “Gäa” von Oonagh, da kann man auch nix machen…
      so, schweigen, schweigen, schweigen….
      Herzliche Grüße und Dank!

      Liked by 1 person

  60. Hallo Klausbernd,
    was für eine wunderbares, intensives, ideenreiches und inspirierendes Stillleben. Da schaut man hin, da beginnt das Träumen, die Gedanken nehmen mal das eine und mal das andere liebevoll hingelegte Detail ins Auge, der Beginn eines erquickenden Abschaltens vom Alltag ist gemacht!
    Einfach faszinierend!
    Lieben Gruß
    moni

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  63. This essay on your own still life picture is a masterpiece. It not only describes the picture with great feeling and a sense of irony, but also conjures up images of the dangers of the early arctic explorations. I do not know any more how often during my teaching career I told the story of the race to the South Pole between Scott and Amundsen. In addition to the difference in clothing, there was also Scott’s ill-conceived reliance on the latest technology with the use of the motorized sleds (snow mobiles). By contrast Scott put his trust in the reliable dog teams, which served at the same time as food. A big thank you goes out from Canada to the wonderful Four in England!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Der Peter
      Thank you sooo much for your kind words 🙏🙏🙏
      In a way Scot was a Greenhorn in comparison to Amundsen.
      We love the Arctic and tried to express our love 💕 in this post.
      Warm greetings from Norfolk to Canada 🇨🇦
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  65. Schüler bekommen ja eher die günstigere Variante: Geha oder Pelikan, das war in der Grundschule fast eine Glaubensfrage…
    Diese geschwungenen Buchstaben, die wir damals “malten” , sehen sehr schön aus, z.B L oder H, Buchstaben S, G, kleine b und d, sehen völlig anders aus als Druckbuchstaben.
    Habe gerade mal versucht, das Wort Hirngespinste in Schönschreibschrift zu schreiben, geht auch mit Kugelschreiber…

    In einer Zeit, in der man überlegt die Handschrift komplett zu ersetzen, wollte ich das nur kurz erwähnt haben.

    Liebe Grüße, das ist wirklich ein bewegendes Stillleben…Eure Pia

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Liebe Pia,
      ja, da hast du recht, Montblanc ist sozusagen der Erwachsenen-Füller.
      Unser erster Füller war ein Pelikan, auf den wir mächtig stolz waren.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom heute sommerlichen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi,
      thanks for liking our post 🙂 🙂 and for commenting.
      We visited the fjords of Northeast Greenland like Scoresby Sound, northern Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Bear Island. They farthest north we ever got was nearly 83 degrees north, there the icebreaker had to turn back because the ice was too heavy further north. We have been several times in the Arctic but we live down south (53 degrees N) at the coast of North Norfolk in East Anglia.
      Wishing you a happy rest of the week
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • The first goes without saying – you are welcome 🙂 Svalbard is on our list but you just added names for me to look up. So thank you. What an experience each of them must have been! I am fascinated.
      You four have a relaxing week too 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Nowadays it’s not such a problem to go around Svalbard and the west coast of Greenland is easy reachable as well. Jan Mayen and Northeast Greenland are harder to reach. We went there on a Russian ice breaker, which we really liked. There are several organisations offering expeditions to such remote parts of the Arctic. We suppose Quark Expeditions is the biggest. By the way, very hard to reach is Bear Island, you better forget about going there, but you can pass it and might see it.
      We wish you GOOD LUCK and keep our fingers crossed that you will find an expedition that you like.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Dippy-Dotty Girl
      most of the icebreakers, especially those of a high ice class, are Russian. And the captains are either Russian or Norwegian because they are the only ones who can cleverly navigate in heavy ice. They have a feeling for ice (like Smilla for snow – in Høg’s novel).
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • She knows from her mother. She was an Inuit hunter, if I remember that right. So, good luck 🍀If one goes to the High Arctic one wants to have at least the illusion of an adventure. No risk, no fun.
      The Fab Four of Cley wishing you a great 👍 evening.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you very much 🙏🙏🙏
      Today you can fly non-stop Oslo to Longyearbyen and then you need an icebreaker to get you further North. And in the end you best travel with dog 🐕 sledges. But it’s all manageable and it’s worth it.
      Wishing you a happy rest of the week
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Good afternoon, dear Dippy-Dotty Girl,
      well, well the polar bears … Everybody wants to see them but if you are out in the high Arctic you better stay away. On expeditions you have immediately to rush back to the icebreaker when a polar bear is seen, even when the bear is far away. Dogs in dog teams usually have a sense for polar bears. If they react nervous it’s time to go back or to get your gun ready. As polar bears are that dangerous it’s a law that you have to carry a gun. I had to take a course in shooting before I was allowed to go out to the Arctic wilderness.
      Thanks and cheers. We wish you a wonderful day 🙂 🙂
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • It’s like on every expedition you ask yourself sometimes why you didn’t stay at home. At other moments you feel open wide and take the beauty of the scenery in not sure if this is real, it’s too beautiful to be real.
      I am sure you will love the High Arctic.
      Wishing you a wonderful weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

  67. I did believe you were travelling up in the north. Only goes to show the authority of the still life. Beautiful and telling as it is. I have always been in aw about people writing diaries. Never got around to do it myself, though. I believe I don’t have the patience…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Otto
      well, I am a writer and so writing is a kind of lifestyle for me. I couldn’t imagine not to write. I just do it every day and going back to my diaries when I am writing books, articles or blogposts. It’s the same with taking pictures for you. We have a division of labour: Hanne-Dina is photographing all the time and I am writing. I don’t think that you need more patience writing a diary than taking pictures which actually is an iconographic diary.
      Thanks and all the best
      Klausbernd
      and the rest of The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Do you get so little traffic on your blog?
      Well, we don’t think that’s the right way. We are sure you haven’t even read what we are written and actually that’s what we don’t lie.

      Like

  69. Looking at the still life what I see is an explorer’s desk. The accoutrements, found objects, and journal of notes just allude to the explorer’s life and the excitement of discovery or the hardship. I think it is great and reminds of books like “In the Kingdom of Ice” of DeLong’s quest to reach the North Pole aboard the ill fated USS Jeannette. This could be DeLong’s desk aboard ship.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Judy,
      well, that’s our dear Master’s writing desk after we came back from the Arctic. Fortunately it was not such travel like on the Jeanette but on a comfy, warm Russian icebreaker up to the vey North. All the associations you mention are intended. Great that it worked.
      Thanks a lot for your kind commentary 🙂 🙂
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Oh good!! Being a naturalist or explorer in the past traveling on ships you’d be hard pressed for comfort most of the time. But, then you encountered many firsts and that had to be exciting.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Even taken part in a modern expedition you get quite often the feeling you are the first one who treats on this piece of land – and it could well in NE Greenland f.e.
      Thanks and cheers
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Dear Judy
      If I remember traveling 30 and more years ago to exotic places that was quite a hardship and I often thought why I am doing this. In comparison such modern expeditions with an icebreaker are quite comfortable and I have to admit I prefer this. I am not such an explorer type like Fiennes who has a strong masochist trait.
      I thought a lot about the firsts. Why it is that thrilling and not only for me. Is there a drive to conquer in human beings?
      All the best and thanks a lot
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

  73. Dear fab four of cley,
    It’s always nice to travel with you all, and to get deeper into your stories as well with pictures as into the text! And I love the still life that Dina (Hanne) captured! 🙂
    Best regards, Heidi

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you very much, dear Heidi 🙂 🙂
      Our aim is to combine texts and pictures in a way that it is fun to read our blogposts, that these posts have a message which the pictures transport as well as the text.
      With greetings from the wild sea today
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

  74. I have only just caught up with this post. Wonderful – I have always loved handwritten travel journals, in fact I have a bookcase stuffed with my only scribblings form the late 1970’s until the present. The trouble is, I do not have beautiful handwriting and I am sure they are hard to read. Even I have trouble with them sometimes – not just the writing but interpreting the frame of mind I was in when I wrote them. Like you, I attach things I have found sometimes, and newspaper cuttings, leaves and maps. I am very jealous of the bit of vertebrae you have – a piece of dolphin or whale perhaps?
    All best from cold, sunny Norwich. Laurence

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Laurence
      puh, what a ghastly weather, really grim today.
      The bone is walrus, actually you find whale on the coasts of Greenland and Svalbard as well, but too big and your expedition leader will shoot you if you try to smuggle old whale bone. If you are caught he will loose his license and therefore these expedition leaders are quite strict.
      It’s great having bits and peaces from that area in your diary. I used my diaries when I wrote my first novel. These were the diaries I wrote while tracking in the Himalayan mountains (Ladakh, Nepal, Northern India) and afterwards stayed in Katmandu for a while. The second diary I used was this one of my Arctic adventures. Parts of it are integrated in another novel of mine. I suppose one needs time to write a nice diary during ones travels. It’s a kind of “meditation on the road”.
      We are looking forward meeting you tomorrow and hope very much for better weather.
      All the best from the rough sea
      Klausbernd 🙂
      Hanne-Dina and our beloved Bookfayries Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma

      Liked by 2 people

  75. Pingback: Arctic Still Life – SEO

    • Thanks you so much for the reblog, it’s much appreciated! 🙂 Great that you like our work.
      How did you find us? I have tried to find out more about you and your blog, your homepage is blank, can that be?
      Best regards
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

  81. Pingback: The Magic of Things | The World according to Dina

  82. Pingback: Symbols | The World according to Dina

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.