Somewhere Cold – thirty-five years later
Somewhere Cold, a memoir about a year my artist husband, Danny, and our three small children spent living with the Inuit hunters of the High Arctic, is a book I’ve wanted to write for a long time. I began writing it soon after we came back from the remote community of Grise Fiord thirty-five years ago, but balancing caring for young children and a demanding job made it impossible to find time or mental space to continue, so I shelved it. Then in 2022, retired from medicine, and finally with time to devote to writing, I rummaged through boxes of papers for the four chapters written over three decades ago, and all the old notes I had made, as well as retrieving Danny’s journal, press cuttings and cartons of photos. With space cleared on my desk I got to work. I was lucky to have the support of a publisher from the early days of writing; this was a huge incentive to keep going.
My aim was to give a glimpse of what life was like in that northernmost community in Canada, for readers who, like me when I set out at the end of 1989, had not travelled further north than Scotland. The landscape, vast, and challenging, from three months of complete darkness in winter with minus 40 degrees, to the 24-hour daylight of summer with milder temperatures, is the closest I’ll ever get to living on another planet.
Writing this book later in life, allowed me to indulge in re-living our time there in a more reflective way. Thinking back, I’m amazed at how we managed to do so well, especially having so little money. But we were committed to making it work, and many people were incredibly generous towards us. For Inuit sharing is part of their culture, it’s integral to who they are. As a hunting society, private property is of little interest to them because living and working cooperatively is vital for survival in that harsh environment.
Inuit Customs and Traditions
We were lucky to be there at a time when Inuit customs and traditions, as well as their language, Inuktitut, were still strong. Enjoying good relationships with family and friends, staying in touch, sharing, and having fun together are essential aspects of life for the people of Grise Fiord. They loved getting together for celebrations and games and everyone took part in community events. Today, in our technological, interconnected world, loneliness is a major societal problem, while medical research shows that close relationships are key to happiness, health and longevity – something the Inuit have long understood. I was also impressed by their strong bond with nature. As hunters, they are grateful for what it provides, and they respect and cherish it. To feel superior would be counter-intuitive.
I learnt a lot in that year about a different way of being in the world, but then when I returned home to Ireland, I settled back to the routine of life here, went back to work, and gradually paid off our debts, although that year was never forgotten. Danny managed to return to Grise Fiord twice with the children for brief visits and to paint icescapes. Then in 2001 we moved to Iqaluit further south on Baffin Island to live and work there for about 12 years.
Life is Changing
But life is changing in the North too. Time will tell if it will be possible to incorporate the best of Inuit culture to a modern global economy. Climate breakdown is also affecting the life of the Inuit, with freeze up occurring later in the autumn and then the melt in summer occurring earlier, causing the sea ice, their highway for travel, to become more unstable and dangerous. These are important issues not just for Inuit, because the loss their culture as with all indigenous cultures, is a loss for all of us. According to the Canadian anthropologist, Wade Davis, instead of having a rich tapestry of diverse thoughts, ideas, myths and beliefs that are part of the various cultures of the world today, we are drifting towards a more bland and homogenous planet, where our imagination becomes constricted and limited both intellectually and spiritually.
Both Danny and I took hundreds of photos when we were there, mainly of our travels with the children by dog team on the sea ice, surrounded by spectacular icy landscapes. Their inclusion in the book enhances the narrative, along with Danny’s drawings at the top of each chapter which are copies of sketches he did there at that time. In addition to sharing my own experiences, I hope this book offers readers some insight into Inuit life and their knowledge and wisdom in that beautiful, remote, snow-covered land.
(c) Geraldine Osborne
About Somewhere Cold: A Year Living in the High Arctic
In 1989, Irish doctor Geraldine Osborne, her artist husband Danny, and their three young children—ages five, two, and one—embarked on an extraordinary adventure: to spend a year living in one of the most isolated parts of the world, the tiny Inuit settlement of Grise Fiord, over a thousand kilometres above the Arctic Circle.
Danny wasn’t a stranger to Arctic extremes. In 1981, he took part in the first Irish Arctic Expedition. But his urge to reconnect with the Arctic never left—and in 1989, he convinced Geraldine to pack up their young family to spend the dark winter at temperatures below -40 °C living in this northernmost community of Canada while training their dog team and preparing for a perilous dog-sledge journey across the frozen sea to retrace the route of the last Inuit migration to Greenland in the following spring.
Written with warmth, humour, and unflinching honesty, Somewhere Cold explores their remarkable year in the High Arctic as Geraldine balances maternal instincts to protect her children from hazards with the desire to embrace this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Along the way, they form deep connections with the local Inuit community, who share their traditional knowledge, country food, and exceptional resilience.
A compelling blend of travel narrative, family memoir and cultural observation, richly illustrated with photographs, Somewhere Cold is about pushing boundaries, embracing the unknown and discovering that sometimes the most valuable lessons come from unexpected places.
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