Night and Day

Sunrise 7:46 Sunset 16:45

The days are getting shorter at a crazy speed. In another month or so, it will become totally dark. I am curious about what it will be like to live in darkness for months on end. In preparation for this I brought lots of vitamin D and full spectrum lighting for my home and classroom. When I first arrived here it was dark for only a few hours during the middle of the night. My bedroom has excellent blackout blinds, so I wasn't aware of the darkness. I found that I was bothered by the long days. For me, it was eerie and unsettling. I expect that I will adapt more easily to the constant dark than the constant light, which will return in the spring. I wonder how the cats will react? Maybe they'll sleep 24 hours a day instead of 23.5.

Around town today .... school closed at lunch for the funeral of the mother of one of our support staff members. She was a well-respected and much-loved woman and apparently the church is packed and many people were unable to get in. Today is also election day and I'll head out soon to vote and see what election day looks like in Clyde River.

Some pictures from the weekend. This one is my favourite of all the pictures I have taken here.Many families have been polar bear hunting in the past few weeks.The community was recently issued 25 tags (licence to hunt 25 bears). The hunt is a communal and social event. People stay out on the land in tents for a few days. All the bears are brought back into town and the meat is shared around the community. The hides are sold out of the community for around $2,000.00 each. A few tags are also issued regularly to outfitters who guide sport hunters.