When I was in full-on “South Seas Vagabond” mode, my beard decided to get in on the act, growing itself to Santa Claus proportions
when Lisa suggested we go to Lapland, to see the Northern Lights, it recognised that Lapland is also the location of the official residence of Santa Claus, so it started vigorously shaking me head in “yes please, take me home” agreement.
It has been growing itself back too Santa lengths for it’s return
it is 1,000kms from Helsinki to Inari (300kms north of the Arctic Circle)
as we flew north, the snow and ice started appearing below us
the airport tarmac was covered in frozen snow
as was the road, for the 40 minute drive to our accommodation
the Inari Wilderness Hotel
doing my best bear impersonation 
there was few hundred meter walk from reception to our cabin
with a big window
looking over a frozen Lake Inarijarvi
one of the first jobs upon arrival, was to bury the bottle of vodka in the snow outside the cabin
we had no activities schedules for the day we arrived, so Lisa and I headed off, for a walk across the frozen lake
there were 3 reindeer out on the ice
there was a patch of lovely soft snow on the northern shore
so of course Lisa had to make a “snow angel”
the sun was setting (a little after 2pm) as we walked back across the frozen lake.
At this time of the year, the sun never breaks over the horizon. The light from it appears above the horizon a little after 10am and disappears a little after 2pm.
The next day was an exciting one for my beard, we were off to the reindeer farm, to meet up with Rudolph and the gang.
I think Rudolph recognised me
one needs to keep well clear of his horns, in case he drops his head to the ground
then it was into the slay
Rudolph’s nose was not so bright, luckily Lisa’s was
then it was into a nice warm hut, for a hot drink
the next activity was dog sledding, on a frozen lake
the dogs were very excited to get going
once let loose, they were off and running
i enjoyed the experience immensly
at the end of the ride, the dogs got a thank you pat
the first two are the leaders, for the rest to follow
the ones at the back are the muscle 
and the ones in the middle, make up the numbers
Lisa got to play with the new puppies
Now that my beard is happy, the adults in the group can go aurora spotting