Polar returns

As Nokve Viking descended towards Umeå Airport last night, I was struck by the bright white light of Venus in the western sky but also a strong sensation of the fact that we are all hurling through space on a fragile molten rock (to paraphrase the words of John Lithgow).

Once on the ground, it was -11 degrees and southern England with its hibernating palm trees suddenly felt very distant. I now have eight weeks here in Umeå, weeks that will be filled mostly by teaching and grading (and maybe a little bit of running) before I head over to Vaasa for that conference on social science didactics. Just today, I had five hours in the classroom talking about everything from perfectionism to constitutionalism, so I felt that a mini bottle of cheap Pinot Grigio from Marks and Spencer was well deserved. And of course, I had to show off and take a picture of my medal from South Devon Ultra ;-)