The Persistence of Memory

It's now the time of year when everything is starting to melt. The landscape is still covered with a snowy white shroud, but rocks, roads and patches of soil are now starting to poke through, much like the way in which the hairs on the legs of an East German women's shot-putter from the 1980s would have poked through her stockings should (s)he have tried to wear any.

Time is also melting away, like the clocks in Dali's famous painting, and it's melting just as slowly, if not slower, than the snow and ice. For both myself and my students we are now at the stage where nobody wants to be here any more and, if truth be told, nobody really needs to be either. For the students, their exams are now long over, and consequently their academic fate is effectively already sealed. Quite why they have to sit their exam a full two months before the end of the course I never managed to fathom out but, just like the Light Brigade, mine is not to reason why.

From my point of view it's just a matter of keeping my class occupied for one more week and trying to maintain the mutual motivation of both students and teacher. To that end I always fill this time of year with projects which at the very least interest me and hopefully manage to pique the interest of my students as well. Last week I taught my class some German - they can now count to ten, ask for directions to the railway station and order two large beers, please - and tomorrow we're going to examine the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. I'll let you know whether my students subscribe to the theory of the lone gunman in the next post.

In the meantime I shall continue to stare out of the window, wishing myself away as I watch the snow melt, and as I do it's rather opportune that the Dave Matthews Band's Dive In should come up on my iPod:

Wake up sleepy head,

I think the sun's a little brighter today.

Smile and watch the icicles melt away and see the water rising.

Summer's here to stay and all those summer games will last forever.

Go down to the shore, kick off your shoes, dive in the empty ocean.

Nine more days...

They don't make 'em like they used to

I wish all Mondays could be like this.

We had just the second snow day of the school year today, and although we did have to be in school this morning, it's rather nice to start the week without having to teach. I say 'snow day' but it was more accurately a 'wind day' because there was no new snow but very high winds; gusts reached 120 km/h and I saw at least three witches blow past my classroom window before I came home at lunchtime. No cows though.

In other news, our food cargo finally arrived! We picked the boxes up from the airport on Saturday and to our great surprise all the contents remained intact. As a result I now have a wonderfully stocked fridge and larder, and the challenge ahead of me is to eat everything before I head back south in May. Melanie will be able to help me until she leaves on Friday, but then it's all down to me. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

We also enjoyed two rather nice breakfasts at the Residence, courtesy of Roland, over the weekend and after the first (on Saturday), we went for a walk around town, stopping at the Northern store en route to pick up some chocolate to fuel our perambulation. We chose a couple of After Eight bars, deeming them to be of a suitable post-breakfast nature, but we didn't check the date on the wrapper (you know what's coming next, don't you?).

The weather closed in during our walk and we didn't get round to eating them, but we decided instead that they would accompany our coffee upon our return home. Fortunately, we did remember to look at the wrappers before we opened them, and it was a good job too.

October 14 2006.

And they weren't even on sale. In fact, they've been in the North longer than I have, and one wonders just how long they would have remained on the shelf had we not picked them up. There's a bunch more in the store, and when the wind dies down I shall venture forth and exchange our antique chocolate for something manufactured in this decade. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to start work on the fridge...

Snow day!

The week just keeps getting better!

We were forecast to have a blizzard both yesterday and today, and although it never really materialized we still got today off; the wind may not have arrived but the snow most certainly did! Never in my entire time in the North - or, for that matter, in my entire life - have I ever seen so much snow fall in a 24 hour period.

There's meant to be a phone tree in place in case the school is ever closed, but it didn't work this morning, which is understandable as trees don't grow this far north. Consequently I tried to get into school, but the snow at the back of my house was literally up to my waist! Having extricated myself I then saw a colleague of mine who had just found out that there was no school, so it was back home for an unexpected day off, which of course I filled with important work of a school-related nature.

Not.

Cloudbusting

Here's an interesting story. To alleviate a drought that threatened to ruin this winter's wheat harvest, it would seem that the Chinese have been seeding the clouds with chemicals in order to make it rain, something that I thought was still in the realm of science fiction rather than science fact. However, an incoming cold front somewhat scuppered the experiment for instead of the hoped for rain, tons and tons of snow were dumped on Beijing as the city was blessed with its earliest snowfall for over a decade.

Now, if only it were possible to take this technology and use it in reverse. We could then 'de-seed' the clouds we get here and buy ourselves some respite from winter.

That would be the ultimate Chinese takeaway.

Walk out to winter

Well, I think it's safe to say that our winter is now well and truly here to stay. It snowed all day Friday, and we had a bit of a blizzard yesterday, making it virtually impossible to see the mountain/hill that I climbed only last weekend. To be honest, I don't really mind it once the snow is thick on the ground; what I don't like is the transition period when it snows one day and rains the next, turning the town into a slushy grey mess, but it looks like our transition period has been a short one this year.

I hosted a potluck evening at my house yesterday; despite the weather there was a good turnout, and thanks to everyone's efforts we had an obscene amount of wonderful food to enjoy. The only thing that didn't really get eaten was my Spaghetti Bolognese, but Tupperware and freezers are wonderful things and I now have plenty of leftovers to enjoy at my leisure. It's Thanksgiving Day tomorrow so I should be eating turkey, but I think that some of the Spag Bol could be getting an outing, unless I decide to defrost another slab of 'mystery meat' instead.

Choices, choices.

Weekend musings

Well, the snow from earlier in the week has all but gone now thanks to a couple of rainy days, but at least I have had a taste of what the landscape will look like here once winter is here to stay. What qualifies as our 'autumn' is still exceedingly cold though; it's a balmy 6° today, but in the week ahead it's forecast to stay around the 1° or 2° mark.

My much talked about expedition into the foothills will have to wait for another day as I woke up with a bad back this morning - better than waking up with a horse's head I guess - and I've spent most of the morning hobbling around the house bent almost double, although this has enabled me to get a close up view of all the spots on the floor that I missed when I went on my cleaning blitz last weekend.

Housebound as I am I've had a go at baking my own version of Tim Hortons' raisin tea biscuits (scones to those of you in the UK), and I must say that they've actually come out pretty well. Combine these with the Timbits that I still have in the freezer and my jar of Tim Hortons ground coffee and I have quite a home away from home going on up here; all I need are the cops sitting at the next table and it'll be just like being there.

Always fresh...

That's snow business

It may have come about a week later than it did last year, but on the day of the vernal equinox we had our first snow of the season today, moving us directly from summer into winter without passing 'Go' and without collecting $200.

I've been wanting to climb one of the hills that surround the village ever since I've got here, but aside from the weekend when I was ill (typical!), all our weekends have been terrible weather-wise so I haven't had the chance. Those hills look more like mountains now that they have their cover of snow, but if I'm feeling brave I might still try to mount an expedition this weekend.

Weather permitting, of course.

Five day weekend

Towards the end of February I lamented about the unchanging weather and hoped that March would bring us our first blizzards of the year...

...they're here!

We've had worse in the past, but as I write I can just about make out the house across the street (and it's not a very wide street), whilst the (fool)hardy souls that are actually outside very soon fade from sight, as if devoured by some all-powerful white mist; imagine Field Of Dreams, but substitute snow for corn and you'll get the picture. I've still not located my keys, but I've had some spares made up, and if I lost the originals outside, well.....there's no hope of finding them now!

We also have a ped day tomorrow, and when you couple this with the fact that I was off sick yesterday, it's like having a snow and spew induced March break (OK, I didn't actually spew yesterday, but I like the alliteration back there so indulge me).

So how does one use such unexpected time off? Enroll in that online Masters course, possibly? Finish reading that book on the Zen of seal hunting perhaps? Finally get round to sorting out that mountain of unpaid bills? Maybe I could give the apartment a good clean? Or how about putting in some microwave popcorn and catching up with all those episodes of CSI New York, NCIS and Bones that I've recorded and haven't watched yet?

I'll let you decide...

Now is the winter of our discontent

As I mentioned in the last post and in this one back in January, the folks back in the UK are currently enduring their worst winter for many a year. Melanie has just had her third snow day in quick succession and my friend Barry's school was closed for four days last week; to put the severity of the motherland's plight into context, up here in the sub-Arctic we've only had one half day off due to the weather all school year.

Now, for the benefit of those of you living outside of the British Isles, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures, courtesy of Melanie and my mum, to show you the type of conditions that have brought a nation of sixty million to its knees:

Just keep going, Britain. Stay strong, and very soon there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Our thoughts are with you.

Snow, sickness and slush

Sometimes you get days or weeks when everything seems to be upside down (unless you live in Australia, where this is permanently the case), and this week has been one such occasion. For me, it began with my stomach being turned upside down - there's been 'a lot of it about' up here recently - the result of which was Monday and Tuesday passing in a hazy mixture of daytime TV and frequent visits to the bathroom; many would say that there is a provable link between daytime TV and frequent visits to the bathroom without the need of a virulent stomach virus, but in my case I can assure you that Regis and Kelly and The Young and the Restless were not culpable.

Aside from my stomach, the weather has also been somewhat upside down this past week. The UK has ground to a halt as a result of the worst winter storms in many a year, whilst up here we have had a slushy machine installed in the Northern store, and now have the incongruous sight of the local kids sipping on said beverages in temperatures that have been hovering around the -25° mark. Takes all sorts, I suppose. 

As the week comes to an end my stomach, whilst not fully back on an even keel, is getting a little better - rather than being upside down it's now merely at a jaunty angle - so I should be able to enjoy my weekend, and I might even treat myself to a slushy...or perhaps not!

Relativity Theory

I know everything is relative, especially your aunt and uncle, but I had to grin after reading an article on the BBC website this morning entitled 'More Arctic temperatures to come.' Wondering what environmental catastrophe had befallen the UK overnight, images from The Day After Tomorrow ran through my head as I brought up the page, but once I started reading I realised that I needn't have worried.

"Temperatures in some areas plummeted as low as -8C" proclaimed the article, which then went on to describe how the country had been plunged into near anarchy due to such conditions. I've become somewhat battle-hardened when it comes to cold weather after four winters in Canada, and although I will admit that -8C is indeed cold, I'd hardly call it Arctic. So, whilst I have sympathy for those of you shivering back in Blighty, just be thankful that your cars look like this:

Heavy snow in the West Midlands yesterday

rather than this:

My car last week

A change in store

There are many positives to being back at home for Christmas, such as seeing friends, a comfy bed, Tim Horton's, clothes I forgot I had and being able to afford fresh fruit, but there are also negatives. For example, whilst I enjoy being able to drive again - although Melanie hasn't let me yet - the car had to be located and then chipped out from under what seemed like an entire glacier this morning (Melanie was more than happy to let me do the locating, though!). When we did finally get the old girl going (the car, not Melanie), our destination was the mall, and this leads me to another negative of being back.

Living in the North certainly changes your mindset in terms of what is, and what is not, important when it comes to consumerism, and although I enjoy Christmas as much as the next man (unless the next man happens to be called Scrooge), I have to say that I found my foray around the stores a little, shall I say, grotesque. I suppose my opinion is also coloured by the fact that we have less money at the moment than in years gone by, but even allowing for that I have reached the conclusion that 'things' really don't matter that much. I have learned to get by with what I have, and to be thankful for the fact that what I have is still a damn sight more than most people.

For example, for many years I have quite readily worshipped at the altar of Best Buy, but after ten minutes there today, I was done. There were many things in there that I would have loved to have but, as our good friend Kate would say, they were all a case of 'greed not need.' Now, whether this state of affairs is permanent or whether it's just a passing phase remains to be seen; when and if our financial position changes for the better, perhaps I will jump straight back onto the consumer express once more, who knows. Whatever happens though, the last few years have undoubtedly altered my perspective on life and, for the moment at least, I think I'm all the better for it.

No fly zone

Damn, damn and thrice damn; my flight has been cancelled.

Not because of the weather, mind you, but because of 'mechanical problems.' What's worse, I just had to go to the airport to collect my now redundant ticket, in order that I can mail it to the School Board so that they can use it to get a refund from Air Inuit. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the stage where I collect the ticket and mail it to the Board (so that they can then presumably mail it back to Air Inuit) a little pointless? Don't ask!

I'm now scheduled to fly tomorrow morning instead, arriving in Montreal around 4pm. From there I will then slum it in the coach to Kingston, rather than the more-executive-but-convoluted-via-Toronto plane. Weather Forecasters are already dubbing Sunday as 'Snowmageddon' in the Toronto region, and seeing as Sunday is when I'd now be flying to and from there, I think it prudent to avoid the area.

So, I now have to unpack and spend another night in Inukjuak, not that that's too bad I guess. I just hope that Snowmageddon doesn't make it's way up here, but if it does I have Bruce Willis' number on speed dial. He'll make 800 feet; he doesn't know how to fail.

It's cold outside...

Although the town has been covered by a blanket of snow for some time now, today was just about the first time that it felt really cold, the type of cold that literally does get into your bones and starts to freeze the end of your nose. As I write, it's a decidedly frosty -17°C outside, -25°C with windchill, which is quite cold enough thank you, but I've been here long enough now to know that it's going to get a lot colder than that in the months ahead.

However, it was also beautifully sunny today, and the view out onto the Bay really was rather stunning. Now, I vowed to myself when I started this blog that it wouldn't turn into yet another amateur travelogue, full of endless photos of the landscape which, after a while, all merge into one however beautiful they are. But today I feel the need to indulge myself and share with you a few photos that I took either at, or on the way to, school (click to enlarge):

The view from my classroom

Hudson Bay, as seen from the school

Smoke on the water...(go on, you know you want to!)

The last photo - not the best quality as it was literally taken through my classroom window - shows the phenomenon of sea smoke, or steam devils, caused when warmer air covers colder waters and winds are calm. The locals view this as a sign that the freeze has really begun, and if there's one thing I've learned to trust in my time here, it's local knowledge when it comes to the weather.

Finally, since I started writing, the temperature has dropped to -20°C (-28°C with windchill), so not only does this illustrate what I was just saying about local knowledge regarding the weather, it also means that it's time to break open the hot chocolate and marshmallows (the little, hot chocolate mug variety). Night, night.

(S)no(w) day

Two of the most popular words for those who work in the North are "blizzard forecast", especially when they are followed by two even more popular words, "snow day." Well, we had the first two words yesterday, but unfortunately they weren't followed by the second two today, much to everyone's disappointment.

Winter has most certainly arrived though and, reluctantly, the Canada Goose has finally had to come out of its metaphorical mothballs; does anyone actually use mothballs any more? Other than male moths? Who knows? Who cares?

Happy Halloween.

It's grim up North...

Well, following a brief scare back in September, it looks as though winter is finally upon us up here. It's been a grey, dank, blustery day today (like Manchester in July), and as I write the snow has now started to fall in earnest. And in Inukjuak. I've always wondered where 'Earnest' is, as they always refer to it on the news: 'fighting has begun in Earnest', 'the election campaign has begun in Earnest', and now 'winter has begun in Earnest.' Not quite sure where it is; think it might be in Saskatchewan.

Only last Friday we were out walking on the beach in shirtsleeves, such is the changeability of the weather in these parts, and local opinion is divided as to whether the snow will settle, but it would seem as if that is it for us now.

Not sure where 'Shirtsleeves' is either. Alberta, maybe..?

When the boat comes in

Thought I'd share with you the view from my classroom window at school:

The big cargo vessels like this one are a real lifeline for the communities of the North, bringing in all the supplies that are too bulky to be carried by the small DASH-8 planes that are the only other method of transportation from the south. Once the Hudson Bay freezes over though, no ships can get through, which means that for about half the year it's the aircraft or nothing.

In other news...I now have three students (!), and a fourth one is promised any day soon. I wonder if they've been delivered by the boat? Oh, and it snowed again today. Bummer.

September Snow

We had our first snow today; it didn't last long, but snow we had so it's now officially winter. In September. Sucky.