Catching some sunshine

Merry Christmas from Steven and Paula in Whitehouse, Jamaica!

This is the incredible view from our balcony. We want to stay here forever! :)

Oh the weather outside is frightful! Or maybe not just outside ...

On Thursday we had a hard time getting out of our house. The door was frozen to the door-frame. After a few good tugs we got it open only to find that the key would not go in the lock! No problem, I quickly got my blow-dryer out and after a few minutes of warming the lock up the key went in. Off we went to work. Little did we know that Steven would be locked out when he came back home for lunch. Good thing the Coppermine Inn is across the street from us. They serve a good cheeseburger and fries! Luckily the Housing Association got it fixed by the time I got home.

Our three-sided porch: when you go outside, snow falls on your head from the ceiling. :)

Someone is in the Christmas spirit! Four more days to work until Christmas break! Our holiday countdown has begun.

It turns out that not only is the outside cold, the inside is too. On Friday it was -54 C (with windchill). When it's -55 C K-3 school is canceled. So very very close... Our windows have all developed a thick layer of ice ... on the inside! Now I understand why the windows are so hard to open in the summer. Lots of water and ice can't be good for that mechanism.

Today from Environment Canada

Kugluktuk

Current Conditions

Observed at: Kugluktuk Airport 9:00 AM MST Thursday 10 December 2009

Condition:

Ice Crystals

Temperature:

-32.6°C

Pressure / Tendency:

102.2 kPa / rising

Visibility:

19 km

Humidity:

73%

Wind Chill:

-46

Dew Point:

-35.8°C

Wind Speed:

N 18 km/h

Forecast

Issued: 9.00 AM MST Thursday 10 December 2009

Today:

Clear. Wind north 20 km/h. High minus 30. Wind chill minus 47.

Tonight:

Clear. Wind north 20 km/h becoming southwest 20 late this evening. Low minus 33. Wind chill minus 47.

Friday:

Clear. Wind southwest 20 km/h becoming light late in the day. Wind becoming northeast 30 late in the evening. High minus 28. Wind chill minus 47.

Saturday:

Cloudy periods with 30 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 27. High minus 23.

Sunday:

Clear. Low minus 29. High minus 23.

Monday:

Clear. Low minus 28. High minus 22.

Tuesday:

Clear. Low minus 29. High minus 23.

Wednesday:

Clear. Low minus 28. High minus 21.

Check out picture #21

Kugluktuk in the spotlight!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/12/olympic_torch_relay_heads_to_v.html

Photo #21 shows the torch relay here. I was in Iqaluit that day, and Paula was sick otherwise we might have been in the photo!

Craft sale

Saturday there was a craft fair at the complex. I bought some bannock (not shown here). Yum.

Rink in progress, it's been flooded at this point and they were letting it freeze (with the doors to outside open). Brrr.

Steven & Paula (in our new parkas).

Booties Paula bought at the sale.

Photo round-up

Here are some photos taken at various times this year.

Bald eagle at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, Nova Scotia this spring. Canon F-1 and 400mm lens.

This was growing just a few steps away from our door here in Kugluktuk, back before the snow. F-1, and 100mm macro lens.

This one was taken here around the time of the first snow. 100mm on the F-1

One last film image with the F-1 and the 100mm macro.

This is from the 14th as the sun "rose". This pano image is something new, a stitch created from five images. I must confess that the source here was digital not film. I still have my tough as nails film cameras, but have added a digital to the mix. A far cry from my "you'll pry my film camera from my cold dead hands" of a few years ago. :-)

The difficulty in obtaining photofinishing here in Kugluktuk is largely to blame. The film images above had to be mailed to Edmonton for processing; the cost of the shipping out and back here is substantial. The film scans, even though from a "pro" lab, didn't measure up to what I'm used to getting when I scan things myself. That is why the images posted on the 14th were all from the new DSLR. It could be even worse I guess; I could be using a Nikon. ;-)

Retro-post.

I used up a roll of 120 B&W film before we moved to Kugluktuk, and mailed it away to be processed last month. Yesterday I picked up the developed film and scanned images. Here are two of my favourites, enjoy! Comments welcome. :)

Sunrise in Kugluktuk

We went to the recreational complex this morning for flu shots. On the way out I made this image at 10:45, notice the sun just rising.

These hills bathed in early morning sun were captured at 11:00 as we walked to the hardware store.

And finally high noon(ish) at 11:39 this morning. By 14:30 the sun was heading down again.

RCMP radio tower under construction; we watched out our front window as they built this over the course of a couple days.

Paula was shoveling snow when I came home from Iqaluit. There hadn't been much accumulation, but there were some major drifts. It had been so stormy the day before that my flight in had been canceled! Here in Kugluktuk water is delivered by tanker truck, and sewage is likewise removed (different trucks!). Paula was clearing the snow so that the sewer truck could get into our driveway. We cleared a path for the truck, and then the next day the hamlet snow removal crew totally cleared the whole driveway for our multiplex, making our effort a bit redundant. Now we know.

Why is the snowmobile on the sea can?

The snow drifts really landed on these folks.

This photo was taken at roughly the same spot as the last photo in the October round up, facing a little to the left ... it illustrates how much things have changed in a few weeks.

Weather for Kugluktuk, November 10th

Cold. But since it's so calm today it doesn't even seem that cold.

http://text.weatheroffice.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?nu-16&unit=m

Current Conditions

Observed at: Kugluktuk Airport 9:00 AM MST Tuesday 10 November 2009

Condition:

Cloudy

Temperature:

-18.4°C

Pressure / Tendency:

101.0 kPa / falling

Visibility:

24 km

Humidity:

84%

Dew Point:

-20.5°C

Wind Speed:

calm

October round up.

This kayak hangs in the lobby of Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik (Paula's school).

Gjoa Haven

Work has taken me to Gjoa Haven (pronounced Joe) for the week.
http//www.gjoahaven.com has info on my hotel.

A friend commented on the $225/night rate. If you wanted to come visit anywhere in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut that's the usual rate. Meals are cheaper here than in Taloyoak or Kugaaruk though, only $35 for supper instead of the usual $55! Quite a bargain. Hotels/inns here (and Taloyoak and Kugaaruk) have two single beds, and when it is full you'll have a roommate. Mine hasn't showed up yet, guess his plane couldn't land yesterday. Which is common too, the planes just fly over if the conditions are poor, and they often are. My plane landed ok, but the wind/blowing snow were picking up in the afternoon. It's colder here in Gjoa Haven than back in Kugluktuk, and there's a little more snow - still no great accumulation though. Glad I have my warm mitts!

Bye for now!

Sunrise and sunset

These times are from this site:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=1162

Rising and setting times for the Sun here in Kugluktuk

			Length of day		Solar noon
Date	Sunrise	Sunset	This day	Difference	Time	Altitude	Distance
							(106 km)
Oct 11, 2009	8:30 AM	6:22 PM	9h 52m 06s	− 7m 46s	1:27 PM	14.9°	149.317
Oct 12, 2009	8:34 AM	6:18 PM	9h 44m 19s	− 7m 47s	1:27 PM	14.6°	149.275
Oct 13, 2009	8:38 AM	6:14 PM	9h 36m 31s	− 7m 48s	1:27 PM	14.2°	149.234
Oct 14, 2009	8:41 AM	6:10 PM	9h 28m 42s	− 7m 49s	1:26 PM	13.8°	149.192
Oct 15, 2009	8:45 AM	6:06 PM	9h 20m 51s	− 7m 50s	1:26 PM	13.5°	149.150
Oct 16, 2009	8:49 AM	6:02 PM	9h 13m 00s	− 7m 51s	1:26 PM	13.1°	149.109
Oct 17, 2009	8:52 AM	5:58 PM	9h 05m 07s	− 7m 52s	1:26 PM	12.7°	149.067

I check the site every once in a while, it's pretty cool.

Yep it's winter.

Paula's first day wearing her winter coat. She's also sporting a made in Kuglutuk hat! The lady who makes these hats stops into offices throughout town selling them. Paula bought a couple!

Goofing around on the shore.

Still some open water, but it's quickly freezing!

This Yamaha motor isn't taking that boat anywhere anytime soon.

The freeze-up started a couple days ago, but it's surprising (to me) how quickly it's progressing. Locals tell us that freeze-up is a little early this year, usually not for another couple weeks. Lucky us! :D

-7 this morning

It's -7c this morning, with light snow. It's October 9th. Sunlamp on.

Yippee!

I have been offered and accepted a teaching position at Jimmy Hikok Elementary school.

Here's my grade one classroom!

The post you've all been waiting for!

It's snowing in Kugluktuk. The ground is white, a couple centimeters of snow have fallen so far. It's September 28th.

My apologies for the poor quality image, this was taken out my office window this morning with the built in MacBook camera.

Fall colours in Kugluktuk

Here are some pictures I took of the fall colours in town.

This is one of the biggest bushes in the area!

These are just outside our house, they are so pretty, have no idea what they are though.

This is also outside our house, there are clumps of grass scattered around.

Took this one on our nightly walk. It was a beautiful night but chilly enough for mittens and a hat. Days are defiantely getting shorter now, soon we will be walking in the dark. It gets dark now around 8:00 now.

My attempt at a "pretty picture".

In case you were wondering...

In case you were wondering what the weather is like in Kugluktuk.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/canu0018

:)

Even more trip photos!

Farewell to Taloyoak.

Hello Kugaaruk.

Farewell to Kugaaruk (a few days later).

The sun set during the flight to Yellowknife. Only fitting that the sunset is the final image from the eleven day trip from Kugluktuk, to Cambridge Bay, to Taloyoak, to Kugaaruk and finally a return to Kugluktuk after an overnight in Yellowknife.