They say that the grass is not greener
on the other side of the fence
but it is at least a different green
The grass up north is a little different than the grass down south...
It is called Smørfjord here
but it has nothing to do with "smør" (butter)
The original name is from the Sami language - Smiervuotna
In Finnish it is Smervuono
The name is derived from the word smierru
which means brittle or fragile
or from smiergas which is a creaking sound
brittle, fragile ice with a creaking sound
In the old days people here lived from what the sea gave
together with small scale farming
but many have been thrown ashore now...
This was one of my childhood homes
from I was around six until I was ten
that is, we didn't live here but a few kilometres to the north
but it was here we went to school and lived at a boarding house
You can still come across someone who rows out
to catch fish for dinner...
There are other means of travelling the sea as well...
...than the traditional rowing boat
The reindeers take the opportunity to eat
the last bites of grass
before they return to the mountains
back to the reindeer moss...
There are around 100 inhabitants here...
... and in addtion to those there are around 50
who come here with the reindeers each year
There are still people farming here
They don't give up that easy, people here
living at the edge of the world!
The summer is on the wane
and most people are on their way home
away from here before the winter arrives
with blizzards and whirling snow!
It is not many miles left
before you reach the end of Europe
and beyond that the Polar Sea is waiting...
Sjøsamisk Tun - a Coastal Sami museum settlement
but it is closed for the season now
Soon the dark period begins and the days will be still shorter
until around Christmas
when there is barely a couple of hours of dusk around noon...
...but then it turns again...
