When it gets REALLY dark

So what makes Longyearbyen tick? I know, I´ve asked this fundamental question before, and yeah, it´s still the coal. But what is it the coal generates?

Electricity. Abundance of electricity for the lightbulbs and heaters and ovens and kitchen gear and TV and radio and computers. And almost everything else. So what happens when the electricity disappears? Like last night?

In a place like Longyearbyen, after an hour or so, when the first thrill about all the stars you can see, and the northern lights that suddenly are visible, then you start to wonder. What would happen if the power failure lasted for a while, like one day, two days, or three? How long before we´d have to be evacuated?

It didn´t last more than three-four hours, and parts of the town got the power back long before us. But it reminded us how far away from everything we are, and how cold and dark the outside is.



And today, I bought an armful of candles. And a new torch.