buntings and spring challenges

Uhoh, have been remiss again. Also not much to write about. Mike, Daniel and I went skidoing one evening after work.
The light was flat which made it difficult to see the trail and cracks in the ice. Spring break up kind of freaks me out, skidoing over large cracks and tidal pools during high tide. But this time (compared to earlier last year) it seemed the cracks weren't as large and we didn't have to cross tidal pools.
Later on the same outing, the girlie in me rose up and squealed, grimaced, and all reasoning was abandoned.
What you ask?
Having toured the bay we arrived back on land at Apex ventured up'n over the hills. The alarming girlie bit was when Mike and Daniel disappeared over a hill.
I'm not that into amusement parks, I don't go on roller coasters...just too scary! No choices here, now. I can't deke outta the line! If anyone had been watching me they would have been in stitches. Abject terror overcame reason but down I went, straight down! Before I knew it we had arrived safely to the top of the other side.

In other exciting news; the snow bunting has returned! This is a sure sign of spring, their cheerful chipping and chirping and flitting through the air add a welcome element to the skies.

Here is my so-brand-new-it's- being-modelled-on-the-steps-of-the-woman-who-made-it-for-me parka! Wonderfully warm and beautifully rendered and most importantly, it is very feminine. Ahh! you can be a woman and be warm in the arctic!

what to do, what to do....

It occurs to me on each long weekend, after the initial excitement of a long weekend, that there are no road trips. No trippin down the highway to visit with friends, family or for an outing to take advantage of the fine weather. Nope, a road trip Iqaluit style may involve a 3 hour plane ride.
There are of course lots of things to do on a long weekend anywhere. Here you can ski do on the bay or the land, visit friends and family still or just hang loose and get the spring cleaning done.

This Easter weekend the Francophone centre hosted a sugar shack which included a yummy breakfast and maple syrup toffee made on the snow. I met up with Katie and Brandon for the buffet feast. There was a lot of food; Fruit, ham, bacon, crepes, french toast, scrambled eggs, baked beans, bread, croissants, sausage, coffee, juice and carrot cake! hmhmhmhmmmm!

Naturally Polar man was there to enjoy the feast. He propped up a mini polar man next to an ice inukshuk for a photo op!

Overnight guest

Have you ever been too frightened to move? Well this lil feller camped under our front window overnight and all the next day. He seemed friendly and healthy and even had a tagged collar. We even fed him breakfast.
Seems he found himself in a place he didn't like and sought refuge on the snowbank under my window. Question is if he was so scared how did he get up here?

What was so frightening that he didn't move for two days?
The open grating on the walkway of course.
Once lifted onto the walkway he trembled, with toes splayed like Charlie Brown taking a hit from Lucy.
Once he was back on terra firma he posted his tail high and scampered off!

Recessional decisions

Shocking start to my Sunday morning. Usually I don't blog about very personal things, however since I needed a forum to air my disgust, shock and awe...it's blog time. CBC News Sunday is getting cancelled! ARRRRGH. Better than "One on One" with that fish Mansbridge, (has he been cancelled? Why is he golden?) Evan and Carol have occupied my Sunday mornings engaging me in politics where I would usually have little interest and portray unique Canadian views on current events for years.
Now what? More Mansbridge....hope not. B.O.R.I.N.G. In fact my favourite Mansbridge bit was done on "This Hour has 22 Minutes" Where Peter was portrayed interviewing himself yuk yuk yuking it up with his own "witty" responses.
CBC obviously doesn't have it's finger on the pulse of Canadian viewers. Take George on The Hour, he started his show with no audience...didn't they know that when he was at CityTV the t-shirts stating "I"m Georges wife" sold out in record amounts? So they start him without an audience then a dim bulb lights up and he gets audience space, a better set and an A list of guests.
Hello CBC we are not our parents generation.

Signs of spring

During the winter we had noticed this stop sign. Was it implanted in the ditch? Was it buried by snow? Both I guess!
Even though the thermometer reads -13C the sun is so warm that it possible to go about with just a fleece jacket. Today was the first day I opened a window at home. The sun heats up the small front room with the same intensity that the north wind can chill the apartment. This time of year is perfect, bright sunshine, open windows, fresh air, no dust!

A truly perfect day

Just before lunch Mike called to ask if I would be interested in going out on the bay today. The stats were perfect: Temp - 10C, winds calm, sky clear and sunny. You betcha I said, dashing the alternative of hanging out in my jammies and doing housework.
It was a large group, six machines each with kiddie passengers and one qamutik. Once at the destination, Mike put on the stove to start a pot of tea, he asked "should I use bottled water or snow?" "Snow" I answered, "because we can!"
The kids big and small each took turns climbing the big hill with sliders, some went almost to the very top to start their slide. But since I'm in such unhealthy shape, I only managed to climb about halfway up and then proceeded the fast trip down. Too fast for all the hard work of climbing up! Sure enough the kids climbed up, this time to roll down the hill!
After a tea and a tanning session, it was time to return. We chose not to recross the bay but to come in across the land. Once again, I was in awe of the stark beauty, the big sky, the harshness of the land and the kindness of the sun.
Mike successfully guided us home pointing out the notable landmarks, and trail markers.





The evening had us return to friends to deliver a parcel, upon arriving home, the aurora was dimly lighting the night sky. As we proceeded into the apartment, they grew and grew and this was the first time I've ever had the chance to witness pink aurora borealis.
Twenty minutes later, the sky was black, starry, and quiet again.