ABSTRACT
The Dawning of the Midnight Sun A place in the world Lars is in his seventies and is travelling with his wife to the north. He has lived in a coastal area in the north of Europe all his life, working as a fisherman, sailor and farmer. Lars grew up in a fjord by the North Sea. The farms in the area usually combined fishing and farming, and it was a very common way of life along the coast. When they reached school age, they had the opportunity to go to school but not for the whole school year. The children had to walk a long way to the school building, Lars remembers, six days a week. The war (World War II) broke out soon after he had finished his schooling, and he decided to stay home with his parents to help on the farm or do a little fishing along the coast. When the war was over, Lars continued being a fisherman and sailor on fishing vessels and smaller ships along the coast as crew. He joined larger fishing vessels for many years. He never had his own boat. He has also worked on cruise ships with tourists. He has seen the coasts of Norway, the Mediterranean, England, Northern France, Denmark and Sweden. When he was young, his greatest dream was to see the North Cape. In the 1950s, he actually had the opportunity to see the place. This happened before the road came to the North Cape, and there was actually nothing there, not much of a building, Lars says. He remembers standing at the edge of the cliff watching the cruise ships coming and going, anchoring up in Horn Bay and letting the passengers off to climb the steep trail up to the summit. The greatest experience at North Cape was seeing the midnight sun, Lars says. It was a bit emotional, he recalls laughing, and it is something that he treasures very much. A dream come true.
