What if the creatures were good?

A thin line between good and evil

Philosophic thoughts and a lot of fun. Norway, Lyngen Alps. February 13, 2019.

Will the ice carry me?

Carefully I set my foot on the ice. Mid of February far up in the North at 69.71259, 19.91613, at an aerial distance of 37 km from Tromsø the ice of the frozen Jægervatnet (see Wikipedia article in Norwegian) should be safe. Indeed the ice thickness is about 30 cm – maybe more, so there should be no problem at all! Nevertheless be careful and do not walk too far off the shore, and do not put off your snowshoes – they minimize pressure … you never know – I am a coward. But perhaps it’s better this way.

Bright and brilliant

Only two days ago I nearly was lost in a complete whiteout, but today’s weather is fantastic!

Strong and stormy gusts of wind howl over the frozen lake, beautiful vortexes of shining ice cristals whip across the vastness of the landscape like small tornados – why do they always hit me? Nevermind – have you ever been in the middle of an ice tornado? In the middle of a lake?

Lying on the ice face up watching the moon in the deep blue sky over the Lyngen Alps I close my eyes. What a feeling – I am lying on a thin layer of ice in the middle of a frozen lake!

The ice safely separates me from the deep and dark abyss of Jægervatnet – I wonder how it would look like under the ice?

Dark and scary

I remember the famous Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad and her fantastic video on NOWNESS and YouTube.

(c) 2016, Johanna Nordblad, please open it in Full View.

There is no place for fear, panic or mistakes.
– Johanna Nordblad

Despite the words of Johanna Nordblad (” … no place for fear … “) I imagine the creepy creatures of Norway in the ‘A Book of Creatures’. What if those creatures were under the ice I am lying on right now – only a few feet away from me?

A Book of Creatures

(c) A Book of Creatures

Will the ice carry me?

Slightly frightened by the idea of the creatures and the evil monsters lurking in the deep I think about life. Right now only a thin layer of ice protects me against the dark creatures – just like sometimes there’s a thin line between good and evil.

The line between good an evil

In most cases it’s your own decision on which side of the line you will be.
– Christian Speck, 2020

I kept thinking how the silent Jægervatnet would look in a few months, when all the snow and ice would have melted? By then the surface of the water would be the only dividing line between good and evil.

“But is there really anything evil in the deep at all?” I asked myself – I do not believe in evil.

What if the scary creatures in the abyss didn’t exist at all? If they had never existed in reality? If they only were a brainchild of our imagination?

What if the creatures were good?

Back home I started to illustrate the creatures in the Jægervatnet. But as much as I tried to make them look evil, they always smiled at me; friendly, as if they wanted to help me.

This must be a good sign.

By the way, we had a lot of fun on the frozen Jægervatnet.

 

---

 

Photography: RICOH GR II, GR Lens F=18.3 mm 1:2.8, DNG RAW format, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Ink illustration: Inks: Rohrer & Klingner (Salix 711), J. Herbin (Lie de Thé, Gris Nuage); Fountain Pens: Noodler’s Ahab with Noodler’s Flex Nib (steel) and Noodler’s Ahab with Fountain Pen Revolution FPR Ultraflex Nib (steel); Paper: Rhodia Dot Pad.

Home
Thank you for reading.
You can sign up for my newsletter here.