One of my resolutions is to edit a story set in Norilsk, which is in Siberia and is the northernmost city of over 100,000. Almost 200,000 people call Norilsk home and love it, despite its isolation (no roads or trains in or out, and you need government permission to visit), the weather (no sun for 6 weeks, months of snow and below zero temps), and the pollution (nothing much grows there, full retirement at 45 because life expectancy is low). I find it fascinating, the extreme weather and the residents’ affection for their home town. Because it’s a closed city, when I wrote a story set there I had to make everything up, with no idea whether it bears any resemblance to reality.
Anyhow, I’m in a Norilsk Facebook group (can’t understand any of it because it’s all in Russian), and here are a few photos from today:
Many Happy Returns 