Concerning Winter

On Monday I attended a very fascinating lecture about winter. We had a guest lecturer from Montréal – and he specializes in the images of north, winter and arctic! I had very high expectations and I’m glad to say they were exceeded. I was thrilled about the topic and the new points of view professor Chartier introduced. He discussed winter and nordicity as cultural, social and aesthetic phenomena instead of merely defining them as something climate-related. What struck me the most was the way Chartier talked about winter as something we adapt to, something exceptional, something that disturbs our routines and everyday life – especially since winter and north are often defined by people to whom they seem exotic.

There’s one particular thing about the presentation that keeps bothering me: winter is seen as an inconvenience, something socially and practically troublesome. From my perspective it’s always been the other way around. Summer is the time of year I need to adapt to, winter and autumn feel normal and natural to me. I do like all of our four seasons but the cold ones suit me best. The only inconvenience I see is the excessive effort I must put my poor car through when it’s -25C° and the road both looks and feels like a glacier.

Be it as it may, I’m really enjoying this time of year and looking forward to the long dark of polar night.

P.S. The lecture made me think about Svalbard and the wonderful trip there last year. Man, it was great...