Fun

Yesterday, the morning awoke across the Watson river with a thick woolen sweater that suggested snow. The surface of the earth and the small ponds and vast lakes even the fjord remained frozen. We had planned a hike up in the hills to the north of the town, a wandering, map less hike following the undulating ridges west along the fjord. I left sunglasses and sunblock on the shelf. Sure enough, by the time we reached the top of our thousand foot climb up the yellow and orange lichen covered granite formation folded with quartz, the sun began to burn through the cloud layer which only an hour ago seemed so thick. Dozens of fox and arctic hare ran before us, though all we could see of them were there tracks. Such a large empty landscape seems so forlorn in the absence of it's beasts; the sign of there having passed, indeed of them invisibly sitting ,twitching noses and sniffing as you pass adds a fullness, a completeness to the space.
We walked ever westward mostly having the firmness of rock beneath our soles, sometimes dry, barren, snow free, iron hard clay, through which poked last year's sedges, harebells and grass. Sometimes we wound up post holing through shaving cream soft snows deep in the drifts between ledges.
By noon the sun was blazing but the wind still cold. We sat in a lee on top of the dark heath made up of miniature rhododendron and blueberry (all day I feasted on last summers blue berries. Perfectly preserved by winter's freeze, they had received just enough sun to be warm, sweet and juicy).
We descended down between cliffs through a shrub forest of willows to the paved road which runs the 14 km from the airport in kangerlussuaq to the harbor near Kellyville.
We walked the remaining several miles back along Saturday's quiet runway to KISS.
Though the usual day off is Sunday, last week's busy flight schedule was such that we worked all through the week and weekend pausing only on this past Thursday afternoon when the last LC 130 (successfully)left the island.
Graciously rewarded with two days off in a row this weekend as compensation (especially after so much traveling and learning and settling in and meeting people and such) allowed for some serious relaxation; as I sat drinking sweet almond tea in an armchair with a book this morning, I felt as if I were on a vacation (we're actually getting paid for this though)!
But today broke away from the clouds at an even faster pace promising some more glorious weather and the icy ruts in the roads began to melt again and since we had learned, on yesterday's march, that the road to the harbour was free, we struck out on our bikes for a hilly ride on our very fine single speed steeds. Of course when we returned, we ate silly Danish cookies and took a nap.