Northwest Impediments to Passage

So... I did make it to Rankin, but now it seems that getting out is going to remain a challange. So far, 3 flights in a row to Baker have been canceled and no one has sounded all that optimistic about there being a chance to escape tonight - still - a girl can hope.

Being stuck here is hardly terrible. I'm staying at the Nanuq Lodge which is quite pleasant and the owners have been very kind and helpful and supportive. I do also have some friends here, whom I don't get to see often, and I've enjoy playing Killer Bunnies, Carcasonne, Ticket to Ride, and Canasta - but I have work that I'd like to do - not to mention that I'm pretty sure that my supper that I forgot to eat as I rushed out the door Monday is still in the microwave and is most definitely starting to mould. I guess I can hope that nuking it for 90 seconds followed by sealing it in the microwave will hopefully have eradicated the spores that would lead to mould, however, that is likely optimistic about the resilance of mould and the seal on my microwave.

But - such is the nature of blizzards - they blow until they are done blowing and you can't land a plane on a runway that you can't see - at least not without expensive technology that we do not have up here.

So I'm plodding away at knitting, trying to make up sub-plans for Monday without having access to text books and any other materials and figuring that this would be a good time to get some jobs done, like blogging.

The weather prognosis seems slightly more hopeful. They've removed the word windy from Monday's forcast. There are about 9 hours before my flight is due to leave... so I think I can still hope. *Finger's Crossed*

J

Hockey For Haiti

haiti1, originally uploaded by jennith peart.

We may be small, and we may live in the frigid middle of the tundra - but that doesn't mean that our hearts are small or cold. The student council with the help of several enthusiastic staff members, community members, local businesses, the Anglican Church Youth Group and the community in general worked together to put on a number of fund raisers to support the people in Haiti.

The grande finale - depicted here - was a staff vs. student council "boot hockey" game where the student's pretty much crushed us. However, we raised a good bit of money and had a good bit of entertainment.

I'm testing using Flickr as a source for blogging - since I seemed to have gotten sucked into upgrading my account. I guess I'll find out if it was worth it. I do actually use Flickr a lot for my Ravelry stuff, so all in all, it does solve a few problems there - I suspect that I'll continue to use Picasa as my main blogging platform, since this online bit is a pain even with the new and improved Qiniq speeds. They are noticeably better, but why make your life complicated.

Tall Trees that Reach the Sky

The fact that I feel the need to start every blog entry I write lately with a reassurance that I'm still alive does not bode well for my efforts as a blogger in general. Still, I have other concerns that rank first and the last 2 weeks are part of the busier season of teaching. Now that the marks are in, I can briefly gasp and find a few minutes to actually put a post up on my blog or even finish the mitten that I started 3 weeks ago. Now, I just have to knit another one.

The voting phase of the Nunies (aka Nunavut Blog Awards) is over. (I think) The results arn't officially up - but they should be up here sometime soon. I guess I'll have to write more and better if I want to be a contender for next year.

Aside from knitting and working and occasionally sleeping, fretting about my thesis and neglecting my guitar and failing to blog or take photographs, I have a few odd thoughts and stories in my head, but I should have typed them a few hours ago when they were fresh, now I'm going to have to dig them up.

The northern lights were out last night (apparently a good show for those of us not occupied with finishing a mitten and watching the last episode of the second season of Heroes). The K value reached 5 which is pretty decent for recent history. In general, the sun is starting to seem like its thinking of ramping up to a solar maximum after tormenting me for the last year and a half with endless blankness, punctuated with a few teasing sunspot clusters. Still, it could be teasing now - but sunspot 1040 or 1041 produced a few M class flares (The first of Solar Cycle 24). I also found a new site for monitering auroral activity.

Today, our community is running a number of events to raise money for Haiti. Including a teacher-student game of boot hockey. Its pretty exciting the amount of effort and energy people are putting into all of the events.

I'm hoping to have more time to play board and card games in the near future. I played (and lost badly) a game of canasta for the first time in a long time online and I'm waiting with great anticipation for the expansion for my Killer Bunnies game to arrive. Robin Hobb's newest book is also on sale this week - so I'm looking forward to reading it at some point in the near future. My other bit of excitiment is that I finally replaced the horrible deskchair that I had here. So, hopefully, I won't be driven away from my computer by discomfort. The new chair is much better and makes working here much nicer. Perhaps this change will translate into future blog enteries on a more regular basis. I've missed out taking pictures of some beautiful sunrises and sun sets the last little while. Its amazing how much longer the days are already. Its still light out at the end of the school day and almost light out on my walk to work.

I'll try and get some pictures soon.

Cheers, and I'd better actually put up this post which has been 2 or 3 days in the making before my computer crashes and I have to start over from scratch.

J

The Nunies

The Nunnies are in the voting stage. These are awards for the best Nunavut Blogs. There are some really worthwhile blogs to read. For more information: click here.

Wild Clouds