Worth Ten Thousand Words

Sunrise: 4:31
Sunset: 20:38

The definition between night and day is once again fading, but in the opposite direction. There is very little darkness left. Even during the times that the sun is officially down, it is still quite bright. The sun is never far below the horizon and the eastern sky glows like an opal at night. Of all the beauty I have seen here, the skies will always stand out in my mind.
Today I have a lot of pictures that I've been wanting to post, so here goes.

Out on the sea ice are these formations that look like giant waves that were frozen when they crested. I don't know how they were really formed, but that is what they look like.
" Dreamscape" is the word that often comes into my mind when I leave the house in the morning and look out at the mountains.

Posing by a frozen wave

More sea ice formations

Waiting for the melt

A couple of weeks ago four of us teachers went on a snowmobile ride out on the land.

I have never experienced such quiet.

A local family out with a dog team.

Igloo built by kids in a contest.

Crystal took this one from inside the igloo.

Local kids against an impossibly blue sky.

Dog team on Nunavut's 10th birthday.

More "waves"

Easter weekend was great, we walked out on the ice to take pictures and we had a huge group for a HUGE meal on Easter Sunday. Now we're headed into the final 8 weeks of school. I'm looking forward to as much time as possible in the glorious outdoors (temps are rising every day). Graham (our VP has promised to take us out to Cape Christian before the end of the school year. Our everyday walks towards the airport are still a novelty with the ever-changing colours of snow and sky.

Other news ....I finished my news writing course and have signed up for a travel writing course at Ryerson. Also signed up for a photography course in London this summer - more about summer plans later - it's getting soooooo close!

If you're getting hooked on reading arctic blogs, I' m thrilled to let you know that Clyde River has a new Blogger (Crystal, our grade 7 teacher, also from Nova Scotia. Her blog is called Arctic Craic (an irish word for a good time). http://www.arcticcraic.blogspot.com/

Arctic Spring

This is what I have been looking forward to since I got here, and I am not disappointed. It is so beautiful here now. It seems to be sunny all the time and the days are rapidly getting longer as we head towards 24 hour daylight. The weekend walks were glorious. We did the usual walk toward the airport and back and ventured out on the sea ice. We plan more sea ice walking next weekend. The temperatures are really starting to rise. The forecast this week features temperatures like minus 12! This weekend I had windows open for the first time and and I noticed some water dripping off the roof. The sun feels warm and in places the snow feels softer. Lots of spring activities coming up in the school and community.
Wednesday is Nunavut's 10th birthday. For readers from other countries who may not know, Nunavut was carved out of a larger Canadian territory on April 1, 1999. The school will be joining village celebrations at a nearby lake on Wednesday. We will all be picked up in sleds and driven out for activities and a picnic. Sounds fun. The weather forecast is really good for that day. Our "on the land program" also starts this week. During April and May the students are taken out on the land for hunting. This year, the girls are able to go for the first time. Yeah! For those girls who do not want to go out on the land, there is seal skin preparation, traditional cooking and other activities at school.

Beautiful Clyde River as seen from our walk to the airport.
Crystal enjoying the warm sunshine.

Some views out over the sea ice.

It's Spring Here Too

The first day of Spring. At this time of year I am usually looking for the robins and flowers, or listening for the tiny peep frogs. Right now, I am trying to warm up from a trip outside for a fire alarm. The wind chill today is minus 35. There were kids out there without coats. I grabbed my coat but found it very cold without the snow pants. So, no fire, but we're all awake now, I can tell you that. Strangely enough, it does feel like spring here. We are now getting almost 12 hours of light every day. In fact, the light is waking me up too early in the morning. As cold as it is, there is some feeling of warmth from the sun when I'm walking, and the scenery is dazzling. Last weekend there was a very strange blizzard. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was shining. Closer to the ground, about the height of the houses, there were blizzard conditions because of the high winds and light snow on the ground.
This school year is flying by. We are making some plans for next year. The school calendar for next year has been finalized. A number of versions were drafted and then teachers and the community were given the opportunity to vote on their choice. Jukeepa, our principal, went on the local radio station and took calls from community members who registered their votes. It was fun to listen to the radio with my class. They all went to the phone to vote. They translated the discussion for me. So, we ended up with a week off in September with school ending a week later in June. The week in September is to accommodate local berry picking. This will happen when the berries are ripe.
A sure sign of spring here is the arrival, via e-mail of the sealift catalogues. Soon time to figure out what I need (or want) for next year. The same process takes place in school. I need to figure out what I need for my classroom and for graduation, which will take place in October.
Oh, by the way, when I was in the Northern Store today at lunch an elderly Inuk man asked me if I would like to buy a coffin. I repeated it, just to be sure I had heard him right. "You want to sell me a coffin?" The reply was a very serious "yes." My first thought, "not unless you know something I don't know" would probably lose something in translation.

Guardians Of The Arctic

On Monday we had a really exciting special event at the school. Brigadier- General David Millar (Commander, Joint Task Force North) came to town to inspect the Clyde River Canadian Rangers and Junior Rangers. The Canadian Rangers are reserve members of the Canadian Forces. They were established in 1947 to protect Canadian sovereignty in remote areas by reporting unusual incidents, providing local expertise and knowledge as well as assisting with search and rescue efforts. There are around 4,200 Canadian Rangers in 165 communities across Canada. Many of our students are Junior Rangers and it was thrilling to see the pride on their faces when General Millar described the Clyde River Rangers as "the best in the north."

Some "old timers," as the younger men called them. General Millar posed so I could photograph him with some of our female student Junior Rangers. The local Rangers commander is recognized for his efforts.

Another group shot with the general.

Although it is still very cold, the quickly-lengthening daylight makes it feel like spring. It is so nice to walk to school in the sunlight. I plan to get out and take some pictures this weekend. A great mail day today! I received my Nunavut health card that I applied for in August and a birth certificate for one of my students. Now he can apply for a social insurance number. Yeah!!!