Northern Finland – Sami culture, reindeer, dogsleds, and more.
After our day in Helsinki (Finland) and our day in Tallinn (Estonia), we hopped on a Finnair flight to the northern tip of Finland – specifically, to the tiny town of Saariselkä, where one can downhill ski at the northern-most lift-skiing resort in the world, cross-country ski on an extensive trail network, explore reindeer farms, experience dogsledding, and more. We stayed four nights at the “Northern Lights Village,” a delightful resort in the middle of all these delightful opportunities. Read on, and check out the photo gallery for more!
Like most people, I find round numbers appealing. There is a reason people celebrate events like a “tenth anniversary” or “fiftieth birthday” as somehow more special than others. So today, on the first day of classes, I am celebrating a special anniversary … joining the faculty of Computer Science here at Dartmouth 040 years ago. In other words, I have spent 0x20 years on the faculty! For readers who are not accustomed to thinking in octal (base 8) or hexadecimal (base 16), I have spent 32 years on the faculty. We computer scientists love powers of 2. 🙂
In touch with the Shackleton expedition – literally.
Thomas Orde-Lees photo by Frank Hurley – Public Domain
Although I am woefully far behind in processing and sharing images from our trip to the Falklands and South Georgia – over two months ago! – I still dream of those landscapes and the intense history behind them. Today (May 20) is celebrated in South Georgia as Shackleton Day, recognizing this day 107 years ago when Ernest Shackleton and two of his crew (Frank Worsely and Thomas Crean) stumbled into the tiny whaling station of Stromness, on the east side of South Georgia. That was their first contact with civilization since they had left South Georgia 18 months earlier, having failed in their expedition but accomplished one of the most incredible feats of survival and navigation ever recorded. (I’ve written about that story before.) I had the good fortune to walk in Shackleton’s steps during our visit in March, descending into Stromness just as he and Worsely and Crean had done a century earlier. (More on that hike to come later!) But since returning home I’ve had another amazing opportunity to connect with that incredible expedition: to read and to hold the diary of Thomas Orde-Lees, the expedition’s ski expert and storemaster. Read on!
Diary of Thomas Orde-Lees, written during the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica in 1914-16. (Collection of Rauner Library, Dartmouth College)Continue reading “Thomas Orde-Lees”
Every year at this time – for more than fifty years – Dartmouth hosts a Pow Wow. Native Americans from all over the region, and sometimes beyond, convene in Hanover for a day or two of traditional drumming and dancing. I always enjoy attending, in part for the beautiful nature of the event, with its colorful regalia and impressive drumming, singing and dancing. But also for the deep meaning that is conveyed by the gathering of members of so many Native American nations, coming together to celebrate their heritage, culture, and traditions.
Head dancers at the Dartmouth pow-wow.
Gitxaała headdress.
This weekend the weather has been spectacular, warm and sunny with a burst of spring flowers in sight in every direction. A huge crowd gathered on The Green to watch the opening session, which this year included an emotional ceremony in which Dartmouth’s Hood Museum repatriated a headdress to the Gitxaała Nation. Here to receive the headdress, which had long been in the Hood’s collection, was an elderly woman… whose grandfather had made this headdress decades earlier. I was honored to be part of that ceremony.
I’ve collected some of my favorite photos in a gallery. I recognize some of the dancers from 2022 and 2018!
The Hanover Green is particularly beautiful in December, especially now with the renovated Dartmouth Hall and Baker Tower illuminated, along with the annual Christmas tree. The gallery includes more scenes with fresh snow.
Christmas tree and illuminated Dartmouth Hall, Hanover.
We were fortunate to have good weather when North America was treated to a full lunar eclipse this morning. It was expected to occur an hour or more before sunrise, as the moon set in the west. Using PhotoPills as a planning tool, I didn’t think I’d have a great view from my backyard, so I arranged to meet a colleague at a location on the Dartmouth campus – a location that has a great view to the west, with Dartmouth’s iconic Baker Tower in frame.
Forty years ago today I started classes as a first-year undergraduate student at Dartmouth College. As I headed off to find my Physics, Math, and Geography classes, I surely did not anticipate that I would return, less than a decade later, to join the faculty … or how the years would turn into decades and I would take on increasing responsibilities. It has been truly an honor and a privilege to serve this institution on behalf of current and future students. Read on!
I had the honor of leading the academic procession – and acting as master of ceremonies – at the Commencement ceremony at Dartmouth College this weekend.
I had the opportunity to spend this weekend at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, for a celebration of the 100th anniversary of a subset of the Dartmouth Outing Club known as Cabin & Trail. Although the celebratory aspect of the weekend was muted – by virtue of being postponed two years due to the pandemic – the real purpose of the gathering was in full swing. A couple dozen hardy alums gathered on Saturday morning for a day of trailwork, sweeping the trails of Mount Moosilauke to remove the winter’s debris of blown-down trees and sediment-filled waterbars (stones and logs used for diverting water from the trails). Although Friday night’s weather involved heavy rain, Saturday morning woke clear with only light clouds.
Saturday morning view from Moosilauke Ravine Lodge.
My group was assigned to hike up the Ridge Trail to the junction with the Beaver Brook Trail, where an illegal campsite had emerged over recent years – we needed to erase that campsite by filling it with debris that would discourage anyone from camping. Here’s the happy crew, after cluttering the campsite behind us.
The crew who erased a campsite at intersection of Beaver Brook and Ridge Trail: Lelia, Kevin, Jeff, Bernie; photo by David Kotz.
We then returned via the same route, chopping trees that had fallen across the trail, sawing off branches that overhung the trail, and shoveling out sediment-filled waterbars.
Jeff Greilsheimer ’94 chops blowdowns on Ridge Trail – with Mount Blue at rear.
We finished the day, dirty and tired, but satisfied by a good day’s work.
The Ridge trail crew: Bernie, Jeff, Kevin, David, Lelia.
Sunday broke even clearer, and sunnier, but sadly I had to depart. I’ll be back soon!
See the photo gallery – including some photos from one of the weekend’s organizers.
The weather was wonderful for the return of the Dartmouth Powwow, celebrating its 50th anniversary as one of the largest annual powwows in the country. The event was cancelled the past two years due to the pandemic, so it was especially gratifying to see this special event back on the Green – especially this year, as Dartmouth celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Native American Studies program at Dartmouth.
Beth Regan, vice chair of the Mohegan Council of Elders, in an honor dance with the Head Man and Head Lady dancers, at Dartmouth Pow-Wow 2022.
The event was also another opportunity to recognize the recent return of Samson Occom’s papers to the Mohegan Tribe; indeed, Beth Regan, vice chair of the Mohegan Council of Elders, was present to make some remarks in remembrance of that event.
David Kotz 