From a distance the tundra looks dead. There is no colour in the summer from afar. And in winter it is wrapped in a blanket of life stealing snow and ice .
From a distance the Arctic seems small and insignificant.
From a distance why would the world care about the lives of only 30,000 people.
From a distance no one sees the pain of poverty, of change or of lost tradition.
From a distance it is difficult to understand that the tundra is made up of colours.
Purple, yellow, green, white, red, black, brown, pink, red and orange.
From a distance the icy whiteness doesn’t show the prisms of colour, the blue and green tones of the ice or the warmth it can provide.
From a distance you wouldn’t see the smiling faces of the people or know about the love they share for each other and the land they call home.
From a distance 30,000 seems like such a tiny number, but up close it is a large community where neighbors look out for one another.
From a distance the struggle to adapt to a world so very different than that of our grandparents isn’t apparent. Their life doesn’t exist long before they are laid to rest.
From a distance you wouldn’t understand. Many don’t understand from up close.