Bye Bye 2010!

Safe and Happy New Year.

So Long 2010!

the arctic is melting

Politicking is not my thing, but one cannot ignore the weird and warm winter we're having this year. So much rain, freezing rain and melting will definitely affect the northern wild life. Furthermore the night sky has been obliterated by clouds.

falling stars

The night of the meteor storm was unusually cold and clear night for us (this winter). My friends and family in Ontario were under cloudy skies. So with a sense of duty, obligation we went out "representin'" to view the meteors! It was a chilly -27C but well worth the effort. We bundled up, trundled out the tripod and faced the wind to watch the universe unfold.

meteor storm with added bonus; aurora borealis extraordinaire




Not much to photograph if it's mud and cloudy skies so here's to hoping for the return to cold!

time passages

I made a difficult decision to remove the blog list which was to the right of ma blog. Reason, I can't keep up with the transient nature of northerners. Of the originals in my list, I think only Matt in Cape Dorset and I are still in Nunavut. Many others migrate to "greener" pastures of the Yukon, NWT or locales south. Sorry folks. Miss you all and Jen of the north I miss you the most.


Shelley

long wait to winter

Winter took a long time in arriving this year. December and we were still experiencing rain! Imagine, rain in the far north in December! No new posts since September simply because I have nothing nice to say about too much rain. It is easy math; rain = mud = nothing much to photograph.

But now with a couple of cold days and persistent snowfall there has been an upgrade in the local panoramas.

I always get a kick out of decorative trees here for the Christmas season as it usually takes me a minute to realize this is novelty, not nature. But the trees complete the "festive" scene and make me feel all fuzzy and warm.



With winter finally here, the landscape looks nice and clean and the Christmas lights are brightening our long nights.



The temperatures remain unseasonably mild, with today being the first day of a temperature colder than -10C. It has been disappointing to our southern visitors as they feel cheated out of their arctic experience.

Today I saw two people out in a boat in the bay, the windchill at the time was -31C, yes a boat not a snowmobile. Hopefully the bay freezes in time for the New Years snowmobile parade!

Here's a tip of the egg nog, and a toast for a bitterly cold winter ahead!