NORWEGIAN ARCTIC PRESCHOOL, Day 14 of the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Day Challenge

NORWEGIAN ARCTIC PRESCHOOL
8x6 oil on museum quality board
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"NORWEGIAN ARCTIC PRESCHOOL"

On my recent trip to Norway, four days were spent in the Arctic Region of the country.  While on a working/cruise ship traveling north, I met an Early Childhood Preschool Teacher who recently moved to Hammerfest, Norway (county Finnmark) from Denmark to teach in a nearby preschool.  Annette told me a bit about the preschool and shared a few photos.  During the shortest days of the year, indeed while I was there, only three hours of blue daylight exist.  The sun never rises during those three hours (and of course never sets in summer).  Here at the preschool you will see that the children wear reflector vests to be seen well.

The little town of Hammerfest is the northernmost town on Earth.    Besides that distinction, Hammerfest became the first European town to have electric lighting when it purchased a generator from Thomas Edison in 1891.  Those early street lights must have been a big blessing.

 The Hammerfest Harbor, Norwegian and Barents Seas are always ice free due to the warm water of the Gulf Stream.  Though I always dressed warmly on this trip, I was never cold.