Flurries-and-frost - Do You Remember Your First Snow?

GAY TEST: put some of your blood into this petri dish and I'll expose it to a hot needle. I lied this has nothing to do with your sexuality I'm trying to find out if you're the Thing

The men (and dogs) of the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. Images from the State Library of New South Wales; photographs by the inimitable Frank Hurley (and a few by other expedition members). 

Bonus: expedition leader Douglas Mawson balancing on the rail of the Aurora with a delightfully boyish grin.

Beautiful C O L D Places by:

© b.simon

Aurora Borealis, by Frederic Edwin Church, 1865

The Icebergs (The North), by Frederic Edwin Church, 1861

Felix Booth – Scientist of the Day

Felix Booth, a British merchant, died Jan. 24, 1850, at age 74.

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Arctic Circle Springtime Gothic

Someone looks at your snow pictures. “Must be cold there up North!” You look at the thermometre. Sub-zero frost. “Yeah.” You’re so hot as you stand in the blazing snow field that you feel like the Scottish twitter user, as if ye wrapped yersel up in tinfoil and crawled inty the microwave tae blow yerself up tae fuck.

There is a strange glowing orb in the sky, white and distant. It stays there for over three hours. It hurts your eyes. You no longer know its name, but it does make you see colours you had already forgotten. It follows you.

“Flower!” someone says. “Green leaves and grass!” You stare numbly at the snow. “Running water!” You hesitate to tell them that you haven’t seen even a hint of dry, barren earth in months.

Yesterday you wore three winter coats, leather mittens and a woolly hat. Yes. Today is t-shirt weather. Tomorrow you know you shall need thicker three coats.