The sun rose last week. That may sound like pretty ordinary news for my friends in the south, but it's HUGE news here. The National Research Council predicted that it would climb above the horizon for the first time since November at 11: AM on January 19. My students told me that I couldn't rely on a computer to tell me when the sun would appear. They said "it will happen when it happens". However, they humoured me when I dragged them all out to witness the great event. The sun was there, but there was too much cloud cover to see it properly. The next day I was attending a workshop in another building in the village. One Inuk woman came back from the washroom, said something in Inuktitut and the room emptied. I went after them and sure enough, they were all gathered around a window smiling at the sun. They taught me how to smile at the sun (with one eye closed) for luck. It was huge and fiery. I stared at it so hard that I could see red spots for about an hour afterwards. I honestly can't describe the feeling. I have been dreaming about sunny skies. It may still be minus 30 something, but everything feels very different now. Today, for the first time in months, the Environment Canada weather site showed a little sun icon on the Clyde River weather page.
On Friday, our school celebrated Sun Day. Lots of activities and fun. Only thing is, the school was closed at noon because of - yup, a blizzard. Oh well....
And last, but certainly not least, congratulations to all the winners of the Nunavut Blog Awards (particularly Cindy & Matt & their furry friends for winning in the category of Best New Blog)and thanks to Clare at The House & Other Arctic Musings for all the organizing. It was I fun event and I loved participating. The best part was being introduced to so many Nunavut Blogs.
And still waiting.......
Fun and games on Sun Day
Sun Day Speed Stack competition results
Making sun visors
And worth much more than a thousand words!!!
I feel nostalgia after reading your post. I remeber the first time felt I that way: the appreciation of the simple things (at least those are the words I use to describe the feeling). I also feel that way when I first feel the heat of the sun as opposed to only the sight of it. The smell of the air when disembarking the after I return from a long holiday is another example.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this.
Good to hear from you Jason. Love your blog. Part of the reason for choosing to live in the Arctic was to fulfill a need to shake things up, to find a renewed appreciation for the small things. My expectaions have been met and exceeded a thousand times. I'm so hooked on this experience ....
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Deborah