The Joys of Christmas

Well, I'm slowing using up the footage I shot over the holidays and with exams and report cards and semester 2 looming - not to mention that going outside requires me to wander nearly blind sans glasses and peripheral vision until warmer weather comes. In the meantime, its all I can do to use the visual cues I have to walk in a mostly straight line on the roadway and not crash into anyone walking nearby. Crossings roads requires I do a spinning parka circle check - which I'm sure would look rediculous to anyone who had sufficient field of view to see enough of what I was doing clearly to realize that I'd done a nice little random 360 in order to ensure that no nearly as visually impaired folks are speeding my way on a skidoo with its roar masked by the sound of the wuthering howling wind. I guess better lame than skidooway kill. So, long and short, I can rarely see much outside and so I'm not so often able to notice the beauty around me - oh.. and its usually dark too.... but soon , soon we'll have more light and the odd day where it is safe to go without a tunnel-hood and then more current photos. Although, it is supposed to warm up to -16 C tomorrow, which I think is balmy for a Baker Lake January.

Enough about my parka induced blurry tunnel vision... here is a a friendly dosing nanuq (polar bear) gaurding the tree from toppling babies - along with baby, mom and the softest, squishiest dinosaur you've ever met. Actually if you look closely there is a second small polar bear bweside the elephant... and the shadow... justification for buying a flash for my camera - the shadow is actually my lens blocking the built in flash.

The story behind the giant stuffed polar bear - he is actually one of 3 bought on sale after christmas some years ago as a practical joke on my parents - but he's very popular with visiting toddlers and makes a nice cushion for sitting and reading in bed... although my dog generally believes that all stray stuffed toys are meant for her to destroy... she has the sense not to bother nanuq there... maybe because he is bigger than her and has dangerous looking pleather claws.