HAPPY SNOW DAY!

So today is Snow Day..                                            

Not sure who proclaimed it but the radio said it so it must be true. If so this must be the only weather event that gets it's own day (except for Sun).

Likely Snow Day is a creation of northerners trying to convince themselves that they like winter. Personally I don't need it as I truly do like winter and snow( I like summer and heat, spring and rain and windy fall days as well ). I don't think I'd like to live in a climate without such marked seasons.

Unfortunately we haven't had much snow this winter... lots of cold but not much snow. It's been a hard winter on skis (lots of rocks sticking their noses out) and I even knocked a crossbar off one of the grooming machines at the ski club this week..  I hit a barely submerged tree stump! Have to get it re-welded.

I have been out skiing quite a bit but decided early on that I wouldn't do the Birkie this year. Unfortunate because they have had ideal snow conditions in Alberta (where the Birkie is) but the lack of snow and cold weather  (-34C today) have made training difficult.

None-the-less, enjoyed a nice ski out the dog team trail today with my 2 Amigos... in to a bit of a wind so I froze my cheek a little.. haven't done that since Iqaluit. We had about .5cm of new fine snow that acted just like sand so it was slow going ...  but as usual once you get past the idea that the day would be a good one for just sitting by the fire, ..  you have an enjoyable experience.  

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Reboot

A new year, new ski season, old conundrum! I like recording time and events and love to go back and read my blogs and the blogs of others but keeping a blog demands a certain amount of discipline that doesn't come easy. I'm old enough to laugh at the idea of new year's resolutions yet still optimistic or naive enough to believe that I can change.

Just before Christmas as I was setting up a bedroom for my daughter Kacheena .. home for the holidays, I came across a notebook with journal entries from the 1980s .. time in Clyde River on Baffin Island. Made me wish I'd kept a more consistent record and I resolved to pick up the blog again... photos and notes on the life of me. A record of events and musings with a slant towards family(including dogs), environment and things on my mind.

It's January, -34C and clear this morning which is pretty normal but the winter has not been typical.(I'm old enough to know that there is no such thing as typical weather... especially these years)  It's been a slow start to the ski season because of a scarcity of snow! Skied the ski-club trails on Saturday and still rough with rocks showing... still recommend the use of 'rock' skis (old). But I've enjoyed the skiing over Christmas, not so much on the ski-club trails but out on some of the skidoo trails and lakes.

I was especially delighted with my ski out Mockford trail last weekend.. not just because the skiing was great (it was) but because the trip include my two dogs Atiiq and Masia. 

Atiiq had knee surgery (TPLO)this summer. This is similar to ACL surgery in humans. It reconstructs the main ligament holding the leg bones together and without it the leg isn't  much good. For Atiiq, the rehabilitation was a long process. She was penned and only allowed 3-4 five minute walks on a short leash each day up until November and a slow increase of activity through to January. It was pretty difficult for a dog that loves chasing rabbits, romping through snow drifts and wrestling with her bud Maisa. During August and September I wondered if she would ever accompany me again on her favourite outing, the Mockford trail. But she did. We were out for a couple of hours of bliss. Looking forward to many more ski outings. 

10 days till Birkie!

Trusty sled dog Atiq 

Warmer this morning... -12C !!  Called the office and let them know I would not be in. Waxed skiis... loaded skis, dogs and sled in vehicle and headed off to Vee Lake and the start of the Mockford trail. It's an old prospectors trail and not heavily used by ski-doos which is nice and I can take the dogs along... not allowed on the ski club trails. The only evidence of trail use since we last skiied it was wolf track that we followed for about 10km. Lots of cross trails though... rabbits, ptarmigan, fox, squirrel and more. Only one mishap, the dogs took off after a rabbit... Atiq didn't get too far. I had to pull her and the sled out out of the bush. You can't be a sled dog and a rabbit hunter!!

I'm trying to get in some good skiing before next weeks 'birkie' (Birkebeiner Lopet).  The birkie commemorates an 800 year old Norse legend ...  a group of skiiers saved a prince from invaders by skiing over the mountains (55km) carrying the prince. The Canadian birkie circles the southern boundary of Elk Island National Park, just east of Edmonton. No mountains but it is 55km, very nice trails, rolling hills and lots of participants (>1000 I think). Normally cross country skiing is a pretty lonely venture. It's kind of nice to share the trails with a large group that are all passionate about skiing... and then there is the Viking feast at the end of the race... now where did I put my horned helmut?

The photo at the top of this blog was taken at the 2009 birkie.   

Ikkii (Ikkiirnaqtuq)

Early morning ice fog... Yellowknife

The digital temperature reading outside the YK Centre on our main street is a hot photo spot this time of year. The Japenese tourists love to get their pic taken when the temperature drops!  We've just been through a ten day period where the temperature sat in the -30 to -40 C range which is pretty normal for this time of year... but less common than it used to be. We've been spoiled the last three or four years. I don't think we hit -40 once last year.

 In my mind, it seems the first winter I spent in YK the -40 temperature and ice fog hung around for almost a full two months.. January and February and that was normal... I discovered that at -45C my spit, if the arc was right, would freeze and bounce when it hit the sidewalk, wow! Just call me 'old-timer'. 'Why I remember back in the old days...'

Other than just endure, there is not a lot that you can enjoy about -40...   at -20 to -24 I stop cycling,
 -30 to -34 is my limit for skiing (feels like you are skiing on sand) ... I have run at -40 but that is probably just silly and I don't do that anymore... so just like molecules in molecular theory the colder it gets the less I move. Like our old cat Sam, I prefer to curl up close to the fire.

I suppose I could go for a swim... and a sit in the steam room!!

Blue Monday ... not

I love dogs, partly because they never complain. This was impressed on me by our first golden, Qyukaluq who had her left front leg amputated after an altercation with a truck(my fault). We lived in Iqaluit at the time and had to send her out to Montreal for vet. services. On her return she was as keen to go out and chase caribou as ever and I don't think she even realized she had a handicap.

Our current golden usually has a cheerful outlook on life but if I sit in front of the computer too long she does tend to mope... does this count as a complaint? She wants to go out skiing and we will go. I'm just watching the temperature and hoping it rises above -30C. I don't think we'll get there though but the sun is shinning and the world a frozen white. Very pretty out today...  and it happens to be the first day of my retirement. I'd add fireworks but it's not really that exciting as I'm back at work tomorrow! The Department has been unable to find a replacement for me so I have agreed to work part time for the time-being (3 or 4 half days a week) as long as I'm not required to make pension contributions because that would screw up my pension and I don't want that.

So today is my retirment and even though its 'blue monday' ... according to some psychologists the most depressing day of the year because of its proximity to christmas, debt and the dark and cold (for christians living in the northern hemisphere anyways)... I'm enjoying the day and Atiq will too.. as soon as I get those skis waxed!

Teaching an old dog

My last 'regular' week of work.  I've been suffering from repetitive question syndrom for the past two months... when is your last day ?...  to which I reply   hopefully not for a while yet? this response usually gets a look of incomprehension until I say that I'm not planning on dying any time soon.  The second question is a variation of ... what are you going to do with all that time? This reminds me of a similar question folks would often ask years ago when they learned that I was a teacher in a small community in the Northwest Territories. In those days I would just look the questioner in the eye and reply... lots of sex!  I haven't tried that response this time round.  I'm willing to bet that, similar to my life as a small community teacher, I won't find lots of surplus time. There are many of things I plan on doing and then there is the list of things my wife has planned for me ...  I'll still be short of time.

I do plan on having the time to learn a few new things... like how to lay tile flooring and how to take pictures of the northern lights (after all these years!)  ...  Yes you can teach an old dog new tricks. I have proof. Over the christmas break I taught my 8 year old golden, Atiq, to be a sled dog.  She used to watch in amasment whenever we passed a dog team on the trail while out skiing ... I think she was envious, so I borrowed a pulk (plastic sled) from my neighbour, dug out an old harnass I had from my Baffin days and hooked her up. We've been out three time now and today graduated from an empty sled to a sled loaded with emergency gear.  Did 10km out the Bert Mockford trail and she was great... only veered off the trail to check out a rabbit or fox trail a couple of times. We're working up to an overnighter at the ski-club's Banting Lake tent frame ...  about 15km from the road. Should be doable near the end of the month... and while I'm there maybe I'll get to try out some northern light photography!!

Atiq and I on Wolf Lake....

I've always loved this time of the year. As a northern educator I've felt especially blessed with a holiday scheduled for the end of December. Whoever scheduled Christmas must have known of the need for relaxation and fun at this time of the year. The end of November and early December with the shortening daylight increasing cold and resulting challenges to both the psyche and physiology can be brutal. Three cheers for the glutony of Christmas... fun and games (especially in small northern communities) food, music, sleep and freedom to do what you like (I know there are limits and stresses over holiday time too but these are mostly self inflicted). I've just been looking at a friends photos of games in Arctic Bay on New Year's day (facebook) and its brought back wonderful memories... thanks Niore!

This year,for me, the holiday has not been as attached to the need for R&R. I've actually been trying to use up my accumulated vacation time prior to retirement in January and have been on holidays since the first week of December. But it's still been a nice break. A time to do a bit more reflection than usual and a time to take advantage of my freedom to do a bit more eating, drinking beer, watching hockey on TV, and of course skiing (hopefully this won't change).

I'm returning to work this week ... for a short period of time but January is easy to face. The days are getting longer... I get to push the re-start button on a few projects and freedom '62' is just around the cornor!! Happy New Year all.