Return of the Sun

Sunrise 10:17, Sunset 13:17
The happy old sun has finally returned to Clyde River. It is the most amazing sight to see this fiery, red ball pop above the horizon. There is nothing subtle about the suns's reappearance at the dawn of the long polar night. Suddenly, a hallway in the elementary school was bathed in red light. I saw local teachers hurrying toward the grade 4 class. I heard someone saying "the sun is in grade four." In the grade 4 classroom, the source of the light, it was stunning: the whole room was infrared. I knew that it would disappear as quickly as it came so I ran outside to wink at the sun for luck and take some pictures. At -53, it was quck shooting and get the mittens back on immediately. My hands hurt within seconds and I was worried about my camera. But the sight of that crazy, crazy sun more than made up for the discomfort. It is a positively visceral feeling and one that I am sure I will count among the most memorable of my life. One of my many gifts from the arctic. This year, I will get to enjoy the experience twice, as it will be a few more weeks until the sunrise in Resolute.

And just like that, it seemed to set even more quickly than it rose.

Then, of course, we celebrated Sun Day at school. With cool shades.....

And face painting........

and our brightest summer clothes. We had beach volleyball with balloons and lots of other games and crafts. With minus 50 temps, all activities had to be held indoors.