I must admit that I miss trees on the tundra

Trees are good creatures.... they are graceful and beautiful and an intergal part of any ecosystem they belong in. I just like them. The tundra is wicked and beautiful and amazing in the spring and fall... but a little piece of me really enjoys trees when I'm down south.

Refueling a Speeding Skiing Jackalope

Skiing is hungry work! Jack had an amazing first ski, but definitely thought snacks were a great part of the exercise.

Boxing Day

In a brief moment of serenity, Robbie and Jack open presents. Sadly, Robbie seemed unnaturally attracted to his brother's gift, even though his sang and flashed lights. Children :D

Oblivious Woodpecker

This guy was pretty intent on his meal as I stood taking dozens of pictures as his head to bob up and down. I got closer and closer, we fell over on our skis and I let out a startles yelp and then got even closer and he didn't seem to notice us at all.

Skating on the Bowness

:D Fun stuff :D

Olympic Mittens

These are the wickedest mittens ever :D .... Thanks Gramma and Granpa!!

Smiling Christmas Nephews

Merry Christmas everyone. I've been lucky to spend Christmas with my Alberta family and see little folk enjoy their gifts. Light Sabres were probably the biggest hits.... and the greatest cause of tears.

I hope that everyone else had a wonderful chirstmas too.

Off to the Races

My volunteer stint as a first aider for the Olympic Cross Country Selection Trials is over... but here is a cool shot of the finish line (a bit before the start obviously). It was a lot of fun and I think I met at least 100 people, all of whom were pretty nice and interesting and many of whom were very curious about life in Baker Lake. It was also pretty neat to watch really talented folk ski and I've finally caught a touch of the Olympic spirit. I have a pretty bad track record for following the Olympics. The summer, I was usually at camp in the the winter I don't tend to have much access to TV. Probably, this year I won't see much of the Olympics.... lacking a television, but its hard to say.

I'm currently being educated about the recent Stanley Cup history of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I should probably listen, as there might be a quiz later.

Sunrise

It wasn't even 10 am yet when the sun came sliding up from behind this mountains. The downside... I have a cold... and I feel like whining about it. Although really, it isn't that bad of a cold. Speaking of cold, the current local temperature is -30 C (sounds like home, brrrr), so I don't know that we'll rush outside today. It is supposed to warm up, with above 0 C temperatures by Saturday.

The sun is trying to shine

The sun is actually trying to shine, although this is another picture from Saturday morning. I promise, promise to get my camera out and about hopefully since I've been pretty slack since August.

I had a bagel for breakfast. It was really good. I don't eat them very often which makes them a really nice treat. Exciting enough to even mention on my poor neglected blog. I have to thank the travel gods for a very smooth trip, including being able to leave early from Winnipeg. I did forget to bring some movies with me, but I guess they'll be waiting for whenever I have time to watch them. In the meantime, I'm finally getting around to watching Firefly, which I think has been on my list of things to do since I was working security at UNB. (There is nothing like working a security shift in partners for getting excellent book, movie and tv recommendations. I have done some knitting and I'm about to start on another pair of socks (purples and greens in Knitpicks "wool of the andes" on my brand new mini addi turbo cable needle.) I'm looking forward to testing out the cable needle - as its really improved my hats and hopefully it'll get the corner lines out of my socks. Harder to keep your count and decreases straight, but worth trying.

My flight was my first Westjet experience and I have to admit that I was impressed with their service. The ladies at the ticket counter made it really pleasant to switch up my ticket. Once again, I had the pleasure of a full patdown at the Winnipeg airport. I think I've only managed to avoid it on one flight through there. I'm just unlucky, since its random. I don't think I look sketchy - and I'm a teacher for goodness sake and friendly. They are pretty professional, but I still hate it, even if it means better security and a safer flight.

The head stewardess on the westjet flight was a riot singing to us about hippopotami and and pretty much managing to make the safety lecture into a somewhat manic, but very amusing stand-up routine. I wonder if they have drama auditions as part of their hiring process. I knit and chatted with a RCMP officer next to me. There are some pretty cool folk who are part of the RCMP. I may have to switch careers one day. Although, I don't know if I have the temperment for policing anything more than unruly university drunks and hormone-infused adolescents. But, the uniforms are decent and I'd like to learn how to ride a horse.

Anywho, I'd better finish this up and get my butt outside to take some more pictures so I can make up a little on vacation for months of really few posts. I just figure there isn't much to be said regarding the making of biology quizzes and and the marking of tests.

Cheers,

J

Winter Mountains.

I have never seen the mountains in winter and I have to admit that the festive decoration of snow makes them even more photogenic. I'd better go make myself useful....

Early Morning Mountains

It seems that my vacation has started with some early morning volunteering.... but definitely worth it for the photo opportunities. Although, having been my first time watching Cross Country Ski Racing, I have to admit that it was kind of cool to watch.

Frosty Moonlit Plants

I am still alive... just busy. I did not make it to Iqaluit. Their was a blizzard that lasted just long enough for both companies flying to Iqaluit to cancel their flights, meaning that I would not have arrived until Wednesday night. This is worth noting: There are 2 jets that fly from Rankin to Iqaluit - they both leave Rankin Inlet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the early afternoon. If they cancel, they don't rebook the next day.. you have to wait until the next flight - which may be extra sucky if they cancel your flight on Friday, as you'd have to wait until Monday. Now.. I know I'm not a transportation scheduling specialist, but wouldn't it make sense for one company to offer Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday flights and one MWF? I probably still would have gotten to go to my really cool meeting if there had been a flight on Tuesday. By the time I got back to Baker Lake, the blizzard had cleared in Iqaluit and the weather was bad in Yellowknife instead. I did get to meet with 2 people from STAR in the Rankin airport while we waited to get unstranded. They got to Iqaluit Tuesday noon by engaging in a wild marathon flight. I did get to participate via conference call, which was very cool, but not quite the same as visiting the capital. and being part of the entire week of meetings. But, such is the life of anyone living in a remote community dependent on planes for travel in the winter. I can only hope the universe is kinder to me in two weeks when I attempt to travel by plane again. The good thing in that case is that the route is much better served, in that there are multiple flights per day.

The moon is just past full and we've had some fog and snow and so the plants are all decked out in frost. In a completely unrelated direction, I was thinking about posting about how I wished I knew where I could get one of those rubber circles that you use to help you open jars as I was getting poor traction on a pickle jar and sore hands. I glanced towards the pile of hats and mitts by the front door and saw my moose-hide mitts.... hmmm... I grabbed one and tried it on the jar and hooray!!!, I was able to open the jar easily....

Anyways, hopefully I'll get some more pictures of the crisp clear winter days this weekend - now that it is seasonably wintery here in Nunavut.

Cheers,

Jennith