Darkness at Noon (with apologies to Arthur Koestler)

At about 11:50 a.m., ten minutes before check-out time at my hotel, I ran a quick errand up to Rovaniemi’s main square, which used to be called Sampo Square, which is the name of a bank. It’s now called Lordi’s Square, after the heavy metal group that has been adopted by the chamber of commerce here in Santa Claus City. Times change, eh?

Imagine my surprise when I encountered a reindeer, tethered in the heart of Lordi’s Square and surrounded by a score of curious on-lookers. Most of them, strangely enough, seemed to be locals. I’m not sure where all the Japanese tourists were when I was making a spectacle of myself, trying to frame my face with the reindeer over my shoulder. I’m afraid all the light ended up on me and left Donder over yonder in the semi-darkness. You can just barely make him out if you squint.

Reindeer are shy creatures, and the vibes I got indicated that Donder didn’t care much for the flash. So it all came down to one low-percentage shot, a long three-pointer at the buzzer. I nearly nailed it.