T )   A U G U S T , 1 9 4 4   -   S U M M E R   P A S T U R E S ,   O R Z I N G O   P E N N I N S U L A

Peter’s diaries contain fewer entries in the weeks following his decision not to return to the village with his family at the conclusion of the summer pasturing season. This acceptance of his fate seems to have brought Peter his own period of peaceful quietude: “I spend my time sketching, tending to the kulags, even reminiscing about childhood holidays spent in the Fliegensbirge. While the horses graze, the old farmer helps me build an umiak from willow and animal hide. When the structure is finished, we coat it with tar, like a currachel. We also devote much time to the making of quoomis. Jötung milks the kulags each evening, while Mû [her sister] wades through the marshes, searching for herbs to add flavour to the fermentation process. When I do try and contemplate my unknown future, alone in the marshes, I see only the reflection of myself as I am now, performing the small banalities of day to day life, enjoying their quiet pleasures; but on rare occasions, this mirrored image seems to shimmer as if held in place by the thinnest hair of my will. In these moments, I feel frozen and afraid.”