Greenland

The Ammassalik Fjord on the east coast of Greenland, 60 miles south of the arctic circle. The view is of Solporten which translates as the Sun's Gate, a name which makes me think of ancient myths or sagas.  I wonder if the name means that the rising sun shines through the gap which would be an awe inspiring sight.

1999: Greenland National Museum and Archive (Design: Martin Morck)

Can you guess what object the stamp depicts?  I would never have got the answer but it is an old pincushion which I think is the 'must have' object when sewing the intricate Greenland traditional costume.  The postal cancel is from Tasiilaq which with 2,017 inhabitants is the largest community in the area, perhaps the pincushion originally came from there (I have no information). 

The massive shifts of plate tectonics when the continents were forming gave an uplift to Eastern Greenland taking it 3 kilometers above sea level and moving it north and into its now icy climate.  In geological terms the east of Greenland is younger than the west coming in at 70 million years which means the soaring peaks have had less erosion than those in western Greenland.  This takes us to 

1957: International Geophysical Year

the geophysics of earth which is such an interdisciplinary subject that the stamps of the International Geophysical Year were equally varied. This one featured the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and its launch date of 4 October 1957.  Time to return from space to the green fields of earth

2016: Bailiwick Life

and land in the  Channel Islands where if one is lucky we might see a Golden Guernsey Goat, a rare species.  Lets look out for some birds

1959: Nature Preservation

a Grey Heron flies over the tree tops or perhaps takes off from its nest on this East German stamp

1959: Birds of the Homeland

A Great Cormorant survey the water and what lies beneath. 

Sunday Stamps II is featuring the letter G - here for Greenland, Geophysics, Guernsey, Goat and Germany - go to See It On A Postcard.