A half-century ago, during an all-too-brief arctic summer, Joey H. and I wandered along a trail on the way to the Ice Cap neither of us would ever reach. We were in the Air Force and were stationed at "The Miami of the North," Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland. It was our first permanent duty station assignment after basic training and tech school.
Summers in Greenland were a bit longer than the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety but not by much. And while it didn't last long, it was lovely while it did and it was daylight 24/7 as well. We were hiking because north of the Arctic Circle as the base was, there wasn't a huge amount of leisure-time offerings.
As we walked we became aware of a clomping, rumbling noise; very faint at first but then as we continued, louder and more menacing. We looked about as we continued but could see nothing that might explain the sound and then, in the blink of an eye, we lept out of its way, down the path we'd been following, at a speed I could scarcely comprehend, came a bull caribou. Head down, rushing along the path responding to a primal urge for a mate, he would have killed us without stopping.
I thought of that while enjoying this Great Moose Migration across the top of the world, in Norway. Trust me, the video is much safer.
-bill kenny
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