Thursday, December 22, 2011

December - Day 22


The sun rose at 1113 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 5 minutes. Mild temperature (around zero) but the wind was picking up in the afternoon, I was almost cold in my usual attire.

I mentioned couple of days ago that I keep seeing this same herd of reindeer every day. It really has been just a fraction of the herd, as today we saw the whole lot, and there were about 70 of them. They have more or less settled into the fields of the village with no inclination to leave and munch somewhere else. This is not good, because they keep crossing the road having difficulty to decide whether to stay on this side or cross to the other side, and when driving it is very hard to notice them in time. If you see one occasionally on the road, you might be able to avoid hitting him, but when they move as a herd, it is like a string and there is no way to avoid a collision with them.

While I was walking today, I saw our mailman approaching on the main road with his small car and at the same time a herd started to move and cross the road, and he tried his best, avoided the collision, but after spinning couple of times on an icy road, his car finally stopped about three feet away from a lamp post. He was lucky, the car stopped in a pile of snow and he climbed out of his car safe and sound.

These reindeer are not wild in a way as moose are wild, they always belong to someone, they are livestock and here and further north are families for whom they provide the main income.

--- I have been on my feet the whole day, first the walk and ever since in the kitchen. I am knackered.
This is inevitable at this point, only two sleeps left ---

Wool with you,
Lene

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous00:15

    Hello, Lene, and welcome to the start of more light!
    If the reindeer are not wild, but actually livestock, why are they not fenced in? It would seem in the owners' interest to keep their herd from being lost by collision with cars or mailmen! We have a similar problem with deer in the woods around here. My sister-in-law has had three accidents with deer where her car has been a total loss. Luckily her Swedish cars are hardy and protect her. Unfortunately, the deer are wild and cannot be fenced.
    Have a peaceful and restful holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Lene, if mild for you is zero...I don't think I could handle it!
    Thank you for sharing a little of your world! We have lots of deer on this island but none looking as pretty as yours!
    May your Christmas be merry and wishing you and your loved ones the best for 2012!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing your December days! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    God jul! from Lillehammer

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for making me aware of our own day's length--today we'll have 9hours and 15 minutes of daylight. The days won't get longer until the 27th, when we'll get another minute of daylight. What luxury!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lene,
    I've been reading you for such a long time and never left you a comment until today. I love hearing about your part of the world in your own words. Today, I loved reading that you are "knackered" because that's such a great (and under-used!) descriptor. Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete