Singing in the Rain

Well, I'm getting down to the wire... I did go puddle jumping and I'm hoping the sore throat I have is temporary and doesn't turn an innocent bit of puddle jumping into strep throat because I don't have time to be sick in the next month, never mind the next week. That said, there really are not too many activities that make you feel as alive as getting rained on... so, as long as I don't end up sick - it was worth it.

Its starting to set in that not only am I moving to a remote place, I'm about to go from temperature I normally associate with midsummer to temperatures I normally associate with early fall - well maybe a touch warmer - but anything much below 20 C and I'm wearing at least a long sleeved t-shirt - maybe even a sweater. So I guess I should enjoy my last few days of wearing shorts and sandals because come September - temperatures above 10 C are going to become rare and that is jacket and hat territory - and well, its winter by October.

I can relate to this a bit. When I did my education year - I did each of my placements in a different location and I was living in Thunder Bay to begin with - so in November I moved south for my first placement near here and went from early winter to late fall then back to full winter when I got to Thunder Bay. In March, the day I left for my last placement, in Nunavut, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and feeling uncomfortable warm carting an armload of boxes to be mailed home from the post office - the next day well - it was Parkas and seeing my first parking lot full of Skidoos in Rankin. I think the toughest was when we headed back south in early May and it was 30 C in Winnepeg and the bunch of us were all standing there in the airport dying with our parkas over our arms in our winter boots (and probably looking foolish too.) So, according to the weather network, the day before I leave the temperature is supposed to be between 11 C (low) and 23 C (high) which isn't all that different from this week here - but that is fairly unusual I gather since the average max temp for this time of year is only 16 C and the average min temp is a chilly 5 C. Note to self... move mittens and hat into carry on bag.

Packing has been an adventure - It looks like it should work out okay, but I've been given a few different versions of what I can actually get on calm air. It sounds to me that your total weight includes your carry-on luggage (but not your camera, purse, or coat or reasonable reading material.) If anyone has recent experience about whether the 70 lbs limit applies to 2 pieces of checked luggage + carry on bag or if the 70 lbs is just the checked luggage and there is another 20 lbs allowed for the carry on - I'd love to know. But, I am going to give them a call anyways.

The photograph was taken on the Credit River near Cataract late last fall.... well on the up side I won't have to wait too long before ski season starts...or worry about if the snow is going to melt or if it is going to rain in January. I think it won't. Now... panicky thought... did I pack my glide wax...where would it be if I didn't - does anyone carry glide wax in August? Sigh. There still isn't anyone with the boots I want in stock either. Ah well, I'm sure I'll have a few more of these moments in the next few days. Its kind of scary moving somewhere where even if you were willing to put out obscene amounts of money - there are simply things that are not available to buy and I suspect that glide wax is probably on the list...