It’s like the Gobi Dessert – only a bit smaller
In the otherwise green northern parts of Denmark, sand is moving right across the country in the general direction of the wind from West to East. This flying sand is moving like a dessert, although the sand is quite moist. The moving sand has throughout history buried houses, farms, roads and churches and only after many years when the sand has passed the area, these abandoned farming community appears on the back side of this moving dessert. However, the sand erodes the fertile top soil and carries it away with the wind leaving barron marshes in it’s wake.
I shot this photo in a particular area called Raabjerg Mile (Råbjerg Mile).
Raabjerg Mile - Tuesday February 7. The lake in front is frosen.
The lighthouses of Skagen
On the very Northern tip of Denmark there are three distinct lighthouses – Grå Fyr (The Grey Lighthouse, still active) – Hvide Fyr (The White Lighthouse) and Vippefyr (The Tilt Beacon) which all signals the importance and necessity throughout history to guide ships safely around this northern point of Jutland.
Grå Fyr
Hvide Fyr
Vippefyr
Vippefyr (The tilt beacon) seen from the base to the tip. It tilts around the central axis which makes it possible to hoist the basked with the burning logs after it's been been lit.
“The Branch” – “The North Cape” of Denmark
I shot a thsi photos on Grenen (translated from Danish: “The Branch”), the very top of Denmark, where the North Sea meets Skagerag. It was bitterly cold with -7 degrees Celsius, moist air and wind so my wool underwear and sweaters was highly apreciated! The coastline is constantly moving and the seas and winds meets – often times – violently. This has been one of the most dangerous places on The Seven Seas, having lead in earlier times to numerous shipwrecks.
The tip of Denmark covered by ice - Next stop Norway
The New Record and The Waiting Game
Today my blog has reached a new time high! My last entry about with the Northern Lights photos has shot through the roof! Right now we are experiencing the biggest Sun Storm since 2005. This is really bad news for communication and navigation satelites. It is not very healthy being an airline passenger or crew neither. But for watching spectacular lights in the night sky, it is great. Right now there’s a lull in the activity, but as the Earth rotates a little bit more, we in Northern-Norway will be right on the backstream of the charched particles from the Sun.
I have already shot a few photos tonight and are waiting for more. Unfortunately there is a lot of clouds right now. And since it’s rather cold, people are throwing birch into the fireplaces – like ther was no tomorrow – which produces a lot of smoke particles which scatter the light even more.
I hope you enjoy these preliminary shots of tonights show!
SOPA / PIPA postponed indefinitely
The SOPA and PIPA law proposals are postponed indefinately! Which means the World’s Population – not the Entertainment Industry – still has the democratic control over the internet! (For now)
So in order to join in the free expression of the world this entire blog is free under a CC – Creative Commons License – with the following limitations:
Commercial Use: NO (right back at you, greedy entertainement industry) Not without my written permission.
Share alike/alter the work: Yes, you may alter and share my pictures, videos or texts from this blog, as long as you link back to the blog. But still, if for commercial use, you need my written permission.
This license applies to The Whole World!
Dette verk er lisensieret under en Creative Commons Navngivelse-Ikkekommersiell-DelPåSammeVilkår 3.0 Unported lisens.
I am so sorry…
- Do you prefer a safe Internet?
- Do you prefer a stable Internet?
- Do you prefer the old security of rights “Innocent until proven Guilty” to still be a golden rule in democratic societies?
- Do you support a free, prosperous Internet
- Do you oppose giving control over the World’s most significant tool for Prosperity and Freedom of Expression to the entertainment industry and dictatorius regimes?
Please, watch these film:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/defend_our_freedom_to_share_or_why_sopa_is_a_bad_idea.html
http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa
This has NOTHING to do with protecting artists’ Copyright! They are already protected through the law over most parts of the world – and I support the ones I like by buying their music and films.
This has EVERYTHING to do with giving the Entertainment Industry (and subsequently corrupt regimes) the TOTAL control over The Internet…
Still not convinced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc
- If you are a US citizen, please, contact your congressman today and protest!
- Do you know a US citizen, please urge him/her to protest!
On 1/24 it could be too late… The clock is ticking…
2011 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,500 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Norway in Red, White and Blue
As you probably know, the Norwegian Flag‘s colours are Red, White and Blue. My friend Jack caught just those colors in a brilliant shot a few days ago:
Norway in Red, White and Blue (photo: Jack Lihaug)
Lions Club Narvik/Ankenes – A Bitterly Cold Work for a Sweet Warm Help
In accordance with tradition I purchased the annual Christmas Tree yesterday from the local Lions Club outside the local supermarket REMA 1000 on Ankenes. Lions Club Narvik/Ankenes is a fantastic club! Every year the comb the area for land owners with Christmas Tree sized spuces (Norway Spruce) to sell for Christmas. Once they have found areas suitable for Christmas Trees, they go up (it is usually up a hill side or mountain) into the woods and cut spruces, drag them down to the nearest road and transport them into town.
The spruce I bought yesterday, was a fantastic tree. It smelled just like a spruce is supposed to smell like! And the branches was so thightly packed, it was just amazing! And all the trees for sale looked amazing!
So – what’s the money used for?
Like any other respectable Lions Club, Lions Club Narvik/Ankenes work for free to earn money for humanitarian projects in the local area, nation-wide and internationally.
Today I stopped by with my camera. I would say -9 degrees is pretty cold for a lion, but not these Lions! Their hearts are plenty warm by the important job they are doing to help their fellow human beings (and environment!) to endure the cold winter weather! I took a few shots of the Lions on Ankenes in action.
Do you want to buy the very best looking and smelling Christmas Trees in Narvik? And do you want to help people in need? Here’s the Lions Club sales stand by Rema 1000:
Lions Club Narvik/Ankenes selling Christmas Trees to aid people in need! It's a cold job!
Find your way to the Lions Christmas Tree stand!
The Polar Night
Yesterday I took this panorama. This is approximately as light as it gets in Narvik this time of year.
Panorama of Narvik - as light as it gets - no direct sunlight in the winter as the sun never rises above the horizon (click on the image for "The Big Picture")
10,000 visitors!
In just a little over a year I’ve had more than 10,000 visitors to my humble, little blog. I am speechless! Thank you for reading…
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Northern Blog-O-Sphere 