1st week in June=we hit freezing temps!

That's right all you fair and sweating readers. We, here in Igloolik, hit the freezing mark for the first time this week and let me tell you, it's glorious! One day I was getting dressed to leave work and I stopped and had to pat myself down, do an inventory, and finally realize, that nope...that was all the clothes I needed....hat, gloves, and ski jacket. How lovely is that? No neck gaiter, no down underlayer, no ski pants, no googles. Just a mere wool hat, gloves (which, if you keep your hands in your pockets, could even be left behind!) and a coat! Summer's here and the livin is easy.....
...well, the dressing anyhow. The living has turned to soft slush snow and mud. Feels like you're walking in slippery sand. Sliding all over the place.
The 24hrs of light has not been bothering me at all. I like it, in fact. I am a night owl. Left to my own circadian rhythms, I will stay up late. In more southerly latitudes, the onset of darkness always made me feel like a loser because it signaled to the majority of folks that the day was done and I never had accomplished what I wanted to during daylight hours. Here, I never have that negative feeling. It's light all the time and I can work on the stuff I want at 10pm without feeling like I'm a weirdo---sun is still shining! I'm still carpeing the diem. :)
I've started riding my bike more and learned in 4.2 seconds that mudflaps are not a luxury; they are a necessity. I filed my teeth down with the sand, dirt, and grit that flew in my mouth and spent a good deal of time trying to clean the back of my coat from the slung mud. It's fun though. I love the fat bike. Riding the bike +/- 10 degrees of freezing is really a lot different than my attempt this past November when I thought I'd frozen my lungs.
Yesterday, I rode my bike to the store and all the little kids are just agog at the fat bike as it rides by. It's like you're on a parade. I have to smile and wave the entire way to the store. One little girl with some apparently gumption chased me down on her bike and silently rode next to me. I acknowledged her and asked if she was riding with me. She nodded. I asked where she was going and she replied, "With you." Oh, okay. So, me and my 9 year old shadow cruised to the grocery store. I said, "Are you going to the store?" and she again nodded. She wasn't exactly a chatterbox. I am not certain she understood my rapid fire English questions. We leaned our bikes against the rails, I visited with some folks outside while she patiently waited at the door for me. She held open the door for me and proceeded to follow me silently through the grocery. She helped me find some chocolate chip cookies. I showed her the trick to buying eggs (always open them to make sure they aren't broken). On my way out, I bought her a little treat. Then, off we go again, her following right next to me as I rode back home. She walked her bike through the deep snow to the back of my house. I am pretty sure I am going to come home and find this girl sleeping in my house one day.
At one point, in the store, there was another White lady shopping and I could see this little girl having an internal dilemma as to whether to stick with the white woman she was currently with or jump ship to this new one. Pretty much you're a curiosity and probably everything, from what I buy, to how I talk is different to a child that has grown up in Igloolik. Not that the kids don't see TV, but to have these weird, tall people right there at your fingertips to silently follow and watch is just too neat.....apparently.Read more