In the Arctic Circle, THIS is the top Beatle song….

At this time of year, when you are cruising the Arctic Circle, there’s only one Beatles’ song you can possibly hum 24/7:

Here Comes The Sun.

Because there are 22 hours a day of bright sunlight. And NO hours of total darkness.

Last night, as we cruised the Arctic Ocean, the sun settled below the horizon at 11.35 pm (photo below)… and rose again within two hours.

And all the while it was hidden, the sky was lit as though it were 7 pm in Napa at the height of summer.

11.35 pm.. the sun officially sets over the Arctic Ocean….

At midnight, wisps of cloud came alive with colors associated with milkshakes and wool socks…. and it never got darker than this….

… and sometimes, the clouds resembled fireworks.

Our cruise ship chugged through the disorienting, night twilight and we reached Alta, Norway, this morning at 9 am.

Alta is known for its winter activities — sledding, skiing, snowmobiling — and for its summer activities, which are pretty much just getting ready for winter.

But the Alta Museum is NOT TO BE MISSED IF YOU ARE EVER WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE OF ALTA.

It is a sweet, compact, jewel box of a museum that celebrates pre-historic inhabitants who roamed the Scandinavian land mass 7,000 years ago.

Alta has northern Europe’s largest concentration of rock art made by these hunter-gatherers.

Adjacent to the museum are two “rock parks,” where you can admire the art of these people who hand-chiseled depictions of their daily life into their settlement rocks. This rock park is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Usually pre-historic artwork depicted large game like reindeer, elk, or bear, but occasionally, smaller animals were included.

At one rock site adjacent to the Alta Museum, they uncovered two carvings of hares, which have been dated 6000- to 7000-years-old.

Here’s something else that I learned at the Alta Museum:

You know that universal cheese slicer — the one you have in your kitchen drawer? It was invented in 1925 by a Norwegian, Thor Bjorklund, who lived in Lillehammer, Norway. So who knew?

More when it happens….

Jim

PS: Don’t forget that if you see an image you like in one of my Substack-distributed emails, when you double-click on that image, it will open in a new browser tab in an enlarged format, enabling you to really enjoy the splendor of the photo.