Take Sunset Photos While Ye Can

We are approaching that time of year where those of us living in the north cease having that phenomena of night. Already, the sky is still bright at 11:30 or so and the sun is rising just after 4 am. As of Thursday, we will no longer meet the requirements for Civil Twilight. Last year the lack of night took far more of a toll on me that the lack of hours of sunlight in the winter, I found that my body really wasn't happy about the lack of nighttime. I really found that my body didn't want to sleep when it was light out even if my room was dark, exposure to bright light at any point after 9 confused it.

Anywho, I have some thesis stuff to tackle and my never ending pile of normal work facing me this fine Sunday. I remember in high school calling 1 pm on Sunday the depressing hour.... and some how it seems that Sunday has become my big work day. I don't know if I'd call my work depressing, but I wish I could be knitting or painting or going for a hike or reading a book for fun.

I did get my first knitting project started after about 2 months of not knitting. So the sun has set and risen and been up above the horizon for about 8 hours now....

I'll try and keep up some quick posts and more pictures as spring slowly changes the arctic snow into bravely questing ferns and moulting hares and ptarigan. (Ukaliq and Aqitgik (spelling - trying to correct into the new spelling from an old dictionary)

Cheers

J

Moving Day Blog Trauma Remedied By Amazing Sibling

Whew... for a while there I thought I'd have to revisit the process of individually reattaching pictures to blogs (with 1000 more posts than the last time I lived through that)... but... fortunately... I have good friends with good computer brains and almost magically the pictures reappeard on my blog with little intervention from me.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.... my friend at http://bog.araska.org

:D

It is done

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Downtown Baker Lake on a Sunny Day

The weather remains amazing as I sit in my apartment and um... sadly work. Tomorrow or Friday maybe I'll make myself take a real walk.

Not a whole lot to report. There are a few dishes in the kitchen and stuff to mark. I'm actually kind of in to the NHL playoff's this year and I'm even quietly cheering on a few American teams... I'm feeling oddly detached from the Canadian entries. Normally I back the Senators until they are gone, and then switch to whatever Canadian team is the mix. (Obviously I'd be cheering for the Leafs if that was an option - but I'll have to wait another year I think for that in the playoffs.)

Of course, I don't have a TV or cable - so I'm not really watching a lot of Hockey, but I have some marking to do, which usually means I watch a bit of playoff hockey while ploughing through stuff. I think actually I have everything I can mark up to date - although a wave of due dates are hitting this weekend - there is always more. I fear I'll run out of Canadian Hockey teams to cheer for in the Playoffs before I run out of marking.... and on that note... better go make some more work for myself to mark. :P

Blue skies and warm spring days

I guess living in the arctic skews one's opinion of warm, but it was warm enough for me to slip on wet ice an fall into a puddle... in the most dignified way possible. I should not be inside today... its far too beautiful, but as usual there is always work to be done and on that note I'd better get back to work writing this answer key for questions on genetics.

Hopefully though, nicer weather will turn into more pictures in general and more posts.

Winter Winding Down

I don't think the cold is over, but with El Nino we've been spoiled all winter and especially in March and April. Don't get me wrong, aside from Blizzards co-inciding with most attempts to travel by air its been a very pleasant winter. I recall praying this time last year for a day warm enough to walk to school with my glasses on and my hood down, this year we are looking for the temperature to possibly break zero 3 times in the middle of April, and event that did not occur until the 1st of June last year. Although, I've been advised that 7 years ago we endured 6 weeks of -40 C weather (before windchill).

Rain is also forcast for tomorrow. This is not good for the local Caribou, until it stays nice, but even that could have consequences in terms of the timing of bugs and food sources. Rain on snow, followed by seasonal temperatures for the rest of the winter could lock up a lot of food resources. I'm hoping for no rain, but I'm also hoping to get out for another walk this afternoon. This photo was taken on the lake on the way to the airport about a week ago.. and it was reasonably seasonally cold and quite windy that day.

Who knows... I'd better get back to geology and off of the topic of weather.

Cheers,

Jennith

Weather, Travel and Me

Its seems to me that the minute that I want the planes to work out, the weather gods cook up a doozy and send it flying to fool with my plans. (Those of you who recall, I was recently stranded in Rankin for 4 days - and the Science Fair nearly was cancelled - although in the end the weather worked out and everyone made it in) Not to mention my wild non-trip to Iqualuit. I do have to give them some credit - no problems at Christmas. So, I'm watching the weather again with a glint of horror as I hope beyond possibility that the blizzard conditions will abate long enough for a plane to land this evening. I'm not holding my breath, but I can't help wishing, especially since this looks to continue to get worse and last until Friday at which point, there will be nearly a weeks worth of bumped flyers trying to make their easter destinations and after weeks of seat sales, I expect that it'll be a while after the weather clears before my incoming guest can get a seat.

Baker Lake is the blizzard capital of the north, averaging nearly 20 blizzard events annually, thus our choice of the Blizzard as our athletic mascot. Still, while looking for a description of the minimum landing conditions necessary, I found this wonderful quote from the late weather caster, Bill Matheson:

“I really believe that Baker Lake, N.W.T., has got to be the epitome of all things Canadians hate about winter,” Matheson said. “The wind is blowing all the time. You're on the tundra. For half the year it's dark. And it’s always the coldest place on the weather map.”

Most of the time, I like the weather in Baker Lake. The crispness, the wind, and even the dark. The wind doesn't actually blow all the time, only when I want the planes to fly and frankly it has been quite mild this year and I can still see the sign, so maybe everything will work out fine. I guess sometimes you just have to hope and prepare to accept the worst. Not much else to do - to be happy in the north you have to be able to accept the things you can't change and weather is definitely out of my hands.

So, heres hoping beyond hope for a large miracle.... and making the best of things as they are.

Vinegar and nails....

If you want to induce rust this is a fun experiment. I was surprised that the nails under the vinegar were rust free, but the heads were very rusty. (The beaker was covered in tin foil so the heads were in vinegar fumes)

My head doesn't want to seem to want to wake up this morning, so I apologize for the short post.

Home Sweet Home

I had a wonderful weekend away from home. I have to say that the regional science fair is one of the most fun activities I've ever taken part in - a big thanks to the kids and colleagues that made it great. I'm already looking forward to next year. The really cool lab coat was a great idea. In the mean time, I'm looking forward to having only the normal teaching load on my shoulders. Its funny - it seems the busier that I am the more I get done, but I'm glad for a break because I have some great ideas I'd like to enact, but I need time to actually do them properly.

A happy anniversery to my amazing and inspiring Grandparents. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there to celebrate with you, but I'll see you in the summer and talk to you soon!

In other news, it is shockingly almost April and the days are starting to get longer. By the end of April they will be long and by the middle of May the sky will no longer get dark enough to call night (even if the sun does technically set below the horizen.) We've been spoiled with warm weather the last few weeks, although currently its pretty bitter. Hopefully, it'll get springy again in time for me to actually enjoy going out on the land (well, at least outside) for easter.

I'd better get my supper cooking and my biology homework done and a good workout in....

:D

Muffin Tree

Who said muffin's didn't grow on trees? Or at least grow like them!

Well, it didn't last long after I took the picture. It'll probably take me longer to clean the little tree cakepan then it did to eat it, but I was pretty hungry.

Yumm.... oh and I still seem to have the yawns. Okay. Quick bit of yoga, then out the door.

NWTel Science and Technology Challange

One of my favourite special events is the SET challange where students are given about an hour to complete a Science Challange. This year we were building Card Inukshuks and Straw Iglus. The one pictured about was my pick for most artistic. Good work to all of the students who participated. This event always surprises me by how engaged the students are with the task. Everyone had fun and even the ones that didn't win did a really great job working together as a team and coming up with some very inovative projects. Congratulations and a huge thank you for NWTel for their sponsership and KSEC for planning and organizing the event.

The nordic center in purple

It was already a monotone picture - but I like purple better than grey. Its been an amazing day for Canada - more medals - I wonder... if we count every medal given out for hockey individually... if that pushes us up in the standings any. Still we may not "own the podium" (well technicall I imagine that the podium itself is physically the property of some Canadian entity.), but I think we've show some real mad skills

and franky... I'd die trying most of those sports non competitively... so wow! They did all that jumping, flipping and cross checking - and they came out walking on their own to feet.. that in itself is a feat in my eyes.

Yawn. I feel almost more tired this week. Too much sitting at a desk - I miss standing up, talking, walking and all the normal movement that my job requires and this is the most TV I've watched in years.. and there are still 2 hockey games to watch... I wonder how many people put on weight during the olympics because they are watching TV so much. Hopefully afterwards, we are more likely to be inspired to get off our keisters and do something active.

But in the short term - I better continue craming biology back into my brain... and head for bed.

J

Potatotential

What do you do with potatos that sprout prolifically before you have time to cook them? Plant them!! They are getting bigger and bigger and bigger everyday. :D

Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

We kicked Russia's butt. I expected a close game, but it seems my country-men remembered their patriotic duty.... play hockey better than anyone else.

Smitten by my mittens :D

The upside of my longer than planned stay in Rankin was that a lovely pair of sealskin mitts found me. They are soft and silky and wonderfully warm. I really really would like to get a parka made, but I haven't decided what kind I want and I have to do that before I order the material. Colourwise - I'm thinking red, or turquoise or navy and I think I want full front zipper, but beyond that... I'm really still thinking. I'm not even sure what weight of parka I want. A friend of mine from another community has a spring/fall parka that I really admired. Frankly, so far this winter I've been running about in my primaloft jacket between the shortness of my comute and the unusually mild (for the arctic) weather.

I had a quiet weekend. I've knit about 3 dishcloths - and I have a nice pile of dishes to test them out on. My foodmail came in - although thusfar I've only managed to make the cabbage roll cassarole and guacamole. I should make up a batch of Tabouli tonight to eat at lunch tomorrow. I have the couscous cooked, but the veggies need to be chopped up and the dressing made.

The rest of my excitement for the weekend was watching 10 episodes of Heroes and the Canada-US hockey game. The ending was sad, but I don't think it'll give me the heeby jeebies the way that Heroes did yesterday... I was creeped out enough to tuck my blankets carefully and I had to move a chair that was casting unusually creepy shadows (well, I put the chair back in its usual spot.)

I expect it to be a pretty quiet and low key week. I'm looking forward to working on a variety of professional improvement projects (including my thesis of doom) and recharging. After this week, school kicks back into high gear with Science Fair coming up (Local and Regional) and the 3rd term coming to an end. After that... it will frighteningly enough be April - leaving me wondering at how fast this year has literally whipped by.

I'll post pictures of the cheesecake once its baked. The northern lights were actually out as I was walking home, but its nippy out and they weren't nearly as bright even as the night last week that I go okay pictures on.

I'll keep an eye on the magnetometer graphs, but I expect that it won't be worth getting frostbite over tonight.

Cheers

J

If its cold, don't worry, you'll be warm if you are furry!

Here, one of my fellow teachers is modelling a Caribou Parka on Olympics day. The sunset was beautiful tonight. I should have grabbed my camera and gone out to shoot the thin crescent moon and the beautiful sky.... but some things were just meant to be remembered.

I'm kind of glad that I'm not one of the organizers of the Olympics right now - there seems so much stressful stuff between the weather and protesters and stuff. Still, I have to admit to being glad that Canada has earned not one, but 2 gold medals so far.

I managed to watch most of the pairs long program last night. I don't think I can leave home tonight. I'm baking bread, but maybe tomorrow.

Aqsarniit - One final Aurora Pic

I decided not to go out - mostly because the spaceweather sites said that things had toned down and I'm feeling ready for sleep. But I wanted the picture at the top of the list to have northern lights..... Its nice seeing them again and there is cloud predicted (regular weatherwise) for tomorrow... so it might be a while before I see them again.

Stained glass and broken glass

Adventures in having my own home. From the top... my newly knitt washcloth - knit during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games.

My new "stain glassed" pattern rug to protect the floor from my desk chair while being more classy than a cardboard box.

Finally.. in memory of one of my ikea glasses that was tragically killed in an accident involving a cake dish of unremarkable heritages (aka - its not a pyrex dish and I"m shocked that it didn't break) I thought I'd post this picture. I don't even think I nudged the dish rack, but the cake pan slid off the top (probably a bad place to put it) and knocked the glass to the floor where it shattered. The only thing I can say for the cake pan (aside for the fact it didn't break) is that it hit me in the back of my leg and protected me from flying glass which was good because I didn't have the kitchen light on or any shoes. Fortuantely.. my kitchen has a window to the living room that I was able to escape through without getting glass slivers in my feet.

No glove no scrub

I made myself wear rubber gloves to wash the dishes in an effort to help my poor dry hands heal. I shot this random photo yesterday because I wanted to note that I've now had more than 40,000 hits on this site since I added my hit counter.

Photo from last post

The Skies Celebrate Canada's First Gold Medal on Home Turf??

Skydancers

:D brrrrr.... I'm still cold though... although I'm toying with the idea of going back out

NORTHERN LIGHTS

Okay... so they aren't perfect... but I think they are some of my best yet.

Class Flag

We had a good time putting this together. Its probably the closest thing I've done to a patchwork quilt... one day.. when I have time to tackle another hobby.

I really hope it works out that I get to watch the opening ceremonies tonight. Oddly... my itch to paint is up too.

Life is a crazy place. I'm glad I'm crazy enough to enjoy it.

Olympic Flags

I've really missed art on fridays from my days in Kash - too much fun!

Sunrise

I managed to catch the surise this moring en route to work..... We are spoiled here in the north!