“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills,
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.” 
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Sunrise and sunset times

Kandalaksha: 12.46 – 14.41. In practical terms that means you can see the sun from the top of taller buildings or from the railroad pedestrian overpass.

Murmansk: already in darkness

Lovozero: already there too

Apatity: 13.06 – 14.12

St. Petersburg: 10.51 – 16.53

Tver: 10.03 – 16.55

Moscow: 9.50 – 16.55

Kharkyv: 7.23 – 15.33

Madrid: 8.28 – 17.48

Haifa: 6.32 – 16.34

Somebody recently asked me about shamans and pagan rituals here. On or around Dec. 22 there is an air balloon celebration in Kandalaksha. From what I hear the tradition formed spontaneously. I’ve observed people start large fires and jump through them without reflecting what they were doing when darkness got to be just too overbearing. Pagan ceremonies and the corresponding world few forms naturally around here. Give the Kola peninsula a couple of centuries of no wars, no military bases, no government, especially as controlling as is ours and it will revert to Saami ways.