I have been a very busy little Nunavummiuq (person from Nunavut, plural form Nunavummiut). Since I last wrote on October 24th (my goodness, that is a month) I had a busy few weeks at work, celebrated Halloween Iqaluit style, moved (!), started a new job (!!), went home to Halifax for eight days (!!!), AND just worked all weekend at a workshop... it has been hectic to say the least, but most of it the good kind of hectic :)
I moved into a house on the same street as my other place with a woman working for the Canadian Wildlife Service. It is a beautiful home and I’m settled in already. And the new job that I started is a part-time job at the local Racket Club. I work one shift a week on the bar and I get a free membership to the courts, gym, and private club. It’s a pretty good deal and I actually really enjoy it! Serving drinks is a great way to meet people in this town.
Most importantly, I had an absolutely fantastic visit home. It was originally supposed to be a quick five day visit, but just a day or two before heading out I extended it for an extra three days. Eight full days to immerse myself in friends and family and pets… that’s like heaven to me right now. It rained every day except for one… and not just drizzle or light rain… record breaking buckets of rain alllll day! The kind of rain where you don’t want to have to even run to your car, let alone go for a walk with the dog. It didn’t stop me from enjoying myself though. I think my trip home would be best described using pictures... I don’t want to go on and on about how cute my pets are, and how wonderful my husband and family are... but they are.
On the flight to Ottawa...
Lauren visited us with her little family one evening and it was sooo sweet watching Lila interact with the critters. She loves cats and dogs, but especially cats, and they were really good with her! My mom and dad were pretty good with her too ;) It’s pretty clear that once kids come into the picture, they steal the show... (her) mom and dad didn’t even make the cut!
We had a get together at our new house in Hemlock Ravine and it was so much fun! I’m not even going to explain what’s going on here... too funny.
On my last day home the rain finally stopped revealing a beautiful fall day, so we took Ella for a walk in Hemlock Ravine Park, right behind her house. She blends in nicely with the leaves in the fall...
Ella was a little nervous that I was going to throw her into the drink.
Sammy watching his Dave kiting out on Cole Harbour.
I just love the colors in these pictures, and my shadow down in the corner.
Goofy dogs enjoying a day out with their people.
My last night we had homemade sushi at mom and dad’s and apparently I was hungry because I took several pictures of the food and none of the people! lol
I was pretty reluctant to leave when the time came. Marky saw me off at the airport on a beautiful, clear, sunny morning. It was so clean and clear that I felt like I could see forever. By the time we were passing over Truro we were high enough that I could see clear from the Bay of Fundy across our great province to the Atlantic Ocean. I could see the Annapolis River meandering through the valley as clear as day, the North Mountains along the north shore, the Digby Peninsula jutting out into the Bay of Fundy. On the south shore I could make out St. Margaret’s Bay in the distance, imagining I could make out my little treeless Quaker Island, though I knew I couldn’t quite see that far… even with my new super glasses.
Though I was sad to leave, what a beautiful day for flying! In this picture I’m looking down on Nova Scotia. Those are the North Mountains in the forefront, the Annapolis River winding through the Annapolis Valley, with southwest Nova Scotia spreading out in the background. The big water body in the distance is Kejimkujik Lake, but if you look carefully enough you can also make out the south coast and the Atlantic Ocean. I could see it more clearly at the time, but I didn’t pull my camera out fast enough.
This was the scene shortly after leaving Ottawa...
My last night we had homemade sushi at mom and dad’s and apparently I was hungry because I took several pictures of the food and none of the people! lol
I was pretty reluctant to leave when the time came. Marky saw me off at the airport on a beautiful, clear, sunny morning. It was so clean and clear that I felt like I could see forever. By the time we were passing over Truro we were high enough that I could see clear from the Bay of Fundy across our great province to the Atlantic Ocean. I could see the Annapolis River meandering through the valley as clear as day, the North Mountains along the north shore, the Digby Peninsula jutting out into the Bay of Fundy. On the south shore I could make out St. Margaret’s Bay in the distance, imagining I could make out my little treeless Quaker Island, though I knew I couldn’t quite see that far… even with my new super glasses.
Though I was sad to leave, what a beautiful day for flying! In this picture I’m looking down on Nova Scotia. Those are the North Mountains in the forefront, the Annapolis River winding through the Annapolis Valley, with southwest Nova Scotia spreading out in the background. The big water body in the distance is Kejimkujik Lake, but if you look carefully enough you can also make out the south coast and the Atlantic Ocean. I could see it more clearly at the time, but I didn’t pull my camera out fast enough.
This was the scene shortly after leaving Ottawa...
Northern Quebec. Looks like the tundra from that height, but this area is actually forested.
This is even further north in Quebec. I can only assume that those are cut blocks that have been clearcut, so the snow is visible in the clearcuts, but not the forested areas.
This is even further north in Quebec. I can only assume that those are cut blocks that have been clearcut, so the snow is visible in the clearcuts, but not the forested areas.
Baffin Island... looks like snow, but it is actually a thick, low-lying layer of clouds. I like this picture because you can really see the curvature of the earth along the horizon.
This was the scene when we landed in Iqaluit, yuck!
I returned to an endless white landscape. They received several days of freezing rain while I was gone, so the roads and sidewalks were pretty slick. They don’t use salt up here (I guess because you would need so much of it), they use sand for traction (which there is an abundance of... much of the tundra is made up of sandy deposits left following the last glaciation event), so the roads built up with layer upon layer of ice and sand. I’ve actually heard them referred to as ice roads, and they seem to work surprisingly well.
I returned to an endless white landscape. They received several days of freezing rain while I was gone, so the roads and sidewalks were pretty slick. They don’t use salt up here (I guess because you would need so much of it), they use sand for traction (which there is an abundance of... much of the tundra is made up of sandy deposits left following the last glaciation event), so the roads built up with layer upon layer of ice and sand. I’ve actually heard them referred to as ice roads, and they seem to work surprisingly well.
With the time change the sun goes down by about three o`clock in the afternoon these days and it is low enough in the sky that if it is overcast at all, it is very dark all day. I’m getting pretty used to it already though. On the shortest day of the year, December 21st, the sun will only be up for around three hours. This last picture is looking down over Iqaluit from my back deck. It is about 8am and the full moon is still shining down on a sleepy little town.
