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    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      Day 178

      Roads ridden by skidoos

      March 7, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -25 °C

      I've noticed an interesting phenomenon that I would have never realized happened before living in a place where the primary mode of winter motorized transport is snowmobile. The roads are so hard and cold that the front runners of the skidoos carve tracks into the packed ice/snow. These 'tracks' are like the amusement park rides where kids get to "drive" the vehicles. You are locked on a track and pulled this way and that. The same thing happens here....the snowmobile gets jerked into these etched tracks and you can't hardly get out of them. Who knew?

      Last weekend there was a community fundraiser via hockey games. Of course Canada, of course would do fundraising through hockey. ;) The premise was neat. Teams put together by community members for the fundraiser competed for bragging rights. However, the teams were made of anyone--young, old, played hockey, never played hockey. The spectators then paid money to effect certain acts by the players. For example, for $2, you could send a player to the penalty box for 1 minute. For $20 you could have a player of your choice take a mid-ice shot on an empty net. For $50, you could make a player of your choice have to dance at center ice by his/herself for 2 minutes. Things like that. Really fun for spectators. The problem for me was that the arena apparently forgot that those NOT playing were not immune to the fact that it felt like there was NO heat on in the building. It was COLD. I went in thinking it was going to be like other ice arenas I'd been in---chilly, but nothing to write home about. After 40 minutes, my toes were numb, my nose was red and running, and I was rocking back and forth. I didn't dress as if I were going skidooing out on the land. I should have!

      Unlike the ice arena here, the outside is becoming decidedly warmer. It feels quite nice. I never thought I'd say that about -27 or -29C but it's true. It has actually been in the low -20s (-10 to -15F) and every day I walk out I think, "Wow, it's warm!" Touching doorknobs without fear of being burned gives me a giddy feeling. Being able to tolerate the air without gloves long enough to, well, to do anything, is so freeing. It's so nice to not feel like your face is literally freezing off. I do not miss the burning sensation on my face that would linger after coming indoors for a good bit. I bet 0 degrees C (32 F) is going to feel so hot. I've even noticed that the power lines, chimneys, and metal railings have lost their frozen, snow-frost-coated appearances. It's now just cold, not frigid and my surroundings show that. The stop signs and telephone poles are not completely encased in snow-hoar frost anymore.

      Is spring coming??!!      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 135

      Do you have the baculum?

      January 23, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      "Do you have the baculum?" and other assorted things I never thought I'd hear.

      The setting: I was relaying my excitement at finally getting a package from my husband that was several days overdue to my boss. He looks dead at me and goes, "Do you have the baculum?" That was my boss's response to me saying, "Yay! The post office finally had my parcel today!" Blink. Blink. Now, those of you that have been following this blog have learned that 'baculum' is the technical term for a penis bone. In this case, we'd be referring to polar bear penis bone. So, yeah, I was a more than a little confused. To alleviate the confusion, my boss then repeats the exact same question, just louder and slower, as if I did not hear him ask if I had the baculum. Blink. Blink. Blink. My mind is racing to try and make polar bear penis bone and "yay, mail!" somehow fit together. What do these two things have in common? It's like I'm on a game show trying to figure out the common thread. My brain is failing me. I wonder if my boss is being really weird and somehow asking if my husband has included some sort of penis thing in my "package". I nixed that idea--I wasn't willing to go there and even ask if that's what he was talking about. Was someone shipping us baculums? Why would they do that; our polar bear samples come frozen by air...not in general mail with your electric bill and Zulily magazine----you know, polar bear penis meat isn't exactly great to send through snail mail. Everyone loses in that scenario. Finally, when none of my mental confabulations could construct anything remotely sensical, I gave up and said, "What in the ever loving world are you talking about penis bones?!!?" To which he replies, "I guess you don't have the baculum." lololol. Now the situation was just silly. "Nope, no I do not have the baculum. Care to enlighten me?" He then goes on to explain (as if this should have been stunningly obvious) that our work's post office box key is attached to a baculum. You know, so we don't lose it. Kinda like restaurants putting cute flowers on their pens to dissuade accidental (or purposeful) theft. We, apparently, attach penis bones to things we don't want to disappear.

      About one to two weeks ago, it was frigid. I know, I know, it's always frigid. But, this was the coldest it's been all year. Real cold. Real windchill. So, I felt as if I had enough, shall we say, "arctic" on my plate. Then, as if things could not be any more inhospitable, our office manager comes in and delivers a warning: "Be careful walking home. There are reports of rabid dogs in town." And she walks out. That's it. As I sit there, mouth still gaping, I switch from shock to hilarity. Of COURSE, there'd be rabid dogs. I mean, why not? Why wouldn't there be?? I mean, life is just too cushy and easy here anyways. We need a little excitement to top up the day. What better way than throw in a pack of rabid dogs in the mix??!! It's not enough to have to endure the extreme cold. Noooooo, we gotta make it actually tough by adding in "avoid rabid dogs". When 5 pm rolled around, I put on all my gear, and because it was so cold, I had to have my hood up and pulled forward to protect from the wind. For those of you that have not been in an Arctic parka, the hood, fully on and pulled up, creates a tunnel of vision that allows a field of view of approximately 37.8 degrees (I made that up). The point is, you can't see shit. Not the person standing next to you, not the person standing slightly in front of you. You can't hear either. So you damn sure can't see a "friendly" rabid dog racing up to bite your ass. And, it's not like you can carry a stick for defense cause there are NO trees----yep, just like we learned about the tundra. I stood outside my work and did a 360 to see what I could see. No dogs. Oh well, gotta get home. Mama is hungry! And off I set, swoosh, swoosh, swooshing in all my ski pant, parka glory. I rationalized that if a dog did, in fact, try to bite me, it wouldn't get through the outerwear....like one of those police dog training suits. I made it safely home and now just keep an eye out for rabid foxes or whatever other creature, like a polar bear, might be wandering about. But hey! --at least the sun's come back so I'll hopefully be able to see the monsters before they get me!

      Next story: After a wind storm and power outage, our work servers were fried in Igloolik. We did not have internet, at all, for 4 days. Think about that. A lot of organizing, cleaning, and editing documents got done in those days. And we all feared when the internet would return to bombard us with piled up emails full of crap that we'd been so happily oblivious to for 4 work days. But, the inevitable happened...a server was flown in and a tech flown in and a mere 4 days later, we had internet. The best part is that when I saw the first email envelope ping into my inbox, I ran out into the center atrium area and asked if anyone else had internet. At that moment, someone yelled, "I have internet!" and we all smiled and hurrahed. Before the smiles could even fade, a coworker came out of the bathroom and said, "the toilets aren't working properly." Cue instant smile-fade. I turned to the manager and quipped, "Welp, we got working internet but no toilets. Guess you can't have it all!" and flounced away to my office to hold my pee.

      Next story: Today, the guy from housing came back from my house, to my work, to show me what he'd pulled out of my tub drain. I live on the other side of town from work. He drove over to work with that nasty drain ooze in the vehicle. Then, he brought it into my work, walked past everyone's offices to show. me. a. drain. clog. Not in a bag, not in a container. Just out there for all to enjoy. If I had any pride, I'd be embarrassed. However, I just told him, "wow, that's wonderful. No thank you, I do not want to keep it." (he asked if I wanted to keep it).

      Every day folks. If seems that every single day something happens or is said that I never thought I'd hear or have to deal with. I am not sure I can go back to working in a place where the internet is fast and reliable, the toilets work, there isn't the constant fear of frostbite and rabid dogs, and people don't randomly ask me about polar bear penis bones.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 132

      Okay, I'm a sucker for the sun

      January 20, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -28 °C

      I know I already wrote about the sun, but seriously, have you guys seen it?! It's really cool! In 6 days, we went from 0 hrs of daylight to 3 HOURS. In SIX DAYS! Some places don't have a 3 hour difference in daylength for the entire YEAR!

      The increase is slowing down. The first day that we had sun, it was above the horizon for an hour. So in 1 day, we went from nothing to a full hour. Now, it's about 15 minutes more per day. That is fast! So bizarre. I can't help but be fascinated. And, it's so big all the time because it's still so low on the horizon. In that first week, it went from not being fully above the horizon to now, when I look at it, there is about 2 inches of sky below it!

      The Return of the Sun big celebration was cancelled because the city was suffering some tragedy. A family suffered the loss of one family member with natural/health causes and then the deceased person's nephew took his own life later that night. Since the town is so small, things like affect everyone and having a celebration would be inappropriate given the circumstances. And, this bears mentioning. Nunavut's suicide rate is unbelievable. Since the territory was established in 1999, the number of suicides mean that every single person of the territories ~35,000 people have been directly touched by suicide. I took this from an article I'm going to link here. "Canada's average annual suicide rate is 11 per 100,000 people, but Nunavut's rate is 117. For Inuit males between 15 and 29, the rate is almost 40 times the national figure." Let that sink in. Think about the suicides you know.....that have affected you or been someone you knew, however remotely or removed. Now, multiply that by TEN! That is the pain Nunavummiat carry here. Since November, Igloolik has had 2 suicides. In three months. In a town of 1500-2000 people. Both suicides were young people. Here are the two (Short, I promise) articles about suicide in Nunavut.
      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-sui…

      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-sui…

      I hate to be a downer, but that is life here and it is something that touches everyone. My coworkers have left several times from work to go to funerals. You can see in their faces the sadness. We all know sadness, but suicide sadness has that added layer, like I suspect murder has, of sheer pointlessness and powerlessness.

      Anyhow, if you've made it this far, then I'll reward you with stories of happier things...like the elementary school's Return of the Sun assembly. My coworker told me about it so I walked down to the school to check it out. I worried that they wouldn't let me come in because I was a stranger and probably a pedophile. But, nope. Just walked straight in and followed the lines of children to the auditorium. No signing in or locked doors here. lol. The ceremony was perfect---short and sweet. The emcee explained that the return of the sun was a period of celebration because although the coldest, most difficult part of the winter lays ahead of us (February), the sun promises warmer temps and return of some animal----couldn't hear what he was saying. A stone lamp is lit using traditional methods of seal fat, cotton grass and flint. Like the Olympic torch kind of. Then, there was drum dancing, a little throat singing (for those of you that know I went to Mongolia and became fascinated with the throat singers there, you know this was really cool for me!! ---two different cultures' throat singing!), a few performances by the kids and then we were donzo!

      The sun is bringing back all sorts of things I forgot....like shadows. Did you ever think about the fact that in order to have shadows, you have to have sun? It's like we've all been vampires here for months....casting no shadows! Today, I found myself staring at the wall in my house as I write this because the sun is SHINING on my walls! At 9:30 this morning, it was already way brighter than any of the days without sun and the sun wasn't actually rising for another 2ish hours! But, it doesn't mean that it's warmer. Still hangin in the -30s C with windchills staying at the -42 to -45 point. So far, no frostbite for me. I see quite a few people with frostbitten cheeks----they are dark red/black patches on their faces. They have literally frozen their skin cells and killed them. The skin will slough off, but what grows back is apparently more sensitive to the cold for a long time. And, you'll be more prone to getting frostbitten if you've actually killed your cells. I've actually had to start wearing my goggles to/from work because my eyes have been exhibiting some pretty strong dry eye symptoms. Last week, it was so bad, I took some Scotch tape and taped one of my eyes shut at work to alleviate the pain. Turns out that's not a great solution. So, I ordered a better, bigger humidifier for my house---the one I bought is small and only lasts a couple of hours so my mucus membranes are sad. Then, drops in my eyes, wearing glasses, and goggles to prevent the wind drying them out. It's been better and I'm snug as a bug in a rug in my goggles, gaiter, and hat. I can hang my head off the back of the snowmobile like a dog out the window with that gear. It's all good.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      12
      Day 128

      Return of the Sun!

      January 16, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      It happened folks! The sun came back! It is stunning and shockingly bright! I think I forgot how bright that boiling orb was.

      The first two days that it was supposed to be here were cloudy and so I couldn't tell if it was above the horizon or not. Then, yesterday, on Monday, I actually stopped working to look out the window around 11am because the brightness caught my attention. The whole sky was just so light and the sun wasn't even showing yet! Then, BOOM! There it was....almost 1/2 to 3/4 of the way showing on the horizon.

      Then, I stared at it. Over and over again. I seemingly forgot that you're not supposed to stare at the sun. I couldn't help it. I guess I didn't realize how captivating it is.

      It has not yet made it completely above the horizon, but the days are very much brighter and there is even a lightening in the sky around 9am! By 2:30-3pm, it's not pitch black anymore. Over Christmas, it was pitch black by 2pm. Things are changing rapidly. I think it's going to feel so surreal to have a normal daylength. It's like boiling a frog. You gotta put that sucker in there while the water isn't hot and slowly crank the heat. That's how I feel this winter went.....while fast and quick changes occurred, you adapt. And, you don't realize you're adapting until it goes back the other way----like the sun showing up.

      Even today, as I was riding home I thought, "What it would feel like to walk outside with just regular clothes on?" How easy and lovely would that be? Having a nice climate controlled car that works and carries you to and fro. Being able to step outside in just a coat and hat. Yesterday, I forgot my neck gaiter and had a VERY cold ride into work. That -30 degree air just slips right down and freezes you out. You could not safely go without a hat or gloves. Today, I was helping my boss do a very quick inventory of a freezer we have in the cold warehouse. The cold warehouse has no heat. We were wearing rubber gloves and the clipboard I was holding was so cold, it was burning my hands. So. Cold. My boss had to take a break to warm his hands because he was the one reaching into the freezer (which is actually warmer than the warehouse) and touching the frozen things. He took off his gloves to warm his hands in his pockets. After a couple of minutes, he reaches for his discarded gloves only to discover they're completely frozen. Just bizarre. And, again, you just adapt.....duly noted....anything with any moisture at all will freeze in less time than it takes to peel an orange.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      1
      Day 118

      New Years in Igloolik

      January 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      New Years was to be celebrated in Igloolik just like any other town...fireworks at midnight down by the beach followed by a parade and dancing at the community hall. Except in Igloolik, the beach is frozen and the parade includes drawing out the year 2018 on the ice with Skidoos.

      The whole town turned out. I've never seen so many folks gathered. The chilly temps of -36C (windchill -49C) didn't seem to keep anyone away. New Years is exciting! I didn't arrive early enough to see the setting up of the fireworks and to be able to poke my nose around. This has worked for me in the past actually. I got the opportunity to help out with a pyrotechnic show at WSU by simply loitering at the fence and looking interested. Next thing I know, I'm helping load 8" shells and check the detonator boards. Being that close to exploding shells turned out to be a lot scarier than I anticipated, but it was definitely exhilarating. So, I wanted to check out Igloolik's set up too! Alas, I arrived just as they started going off. They were great. We were all lined up no more than 50-100m from them going off so it was like a backyard, front-row show!

      Right after, skidoos began racing out on the ice and lining up in what seemed like a hundred snowmobiles. They were facing the town so all we saw were a line of bright white headlights out on the bay. Then, somehow, a leader began to draw out the giant 2-0-1-8 with his skidoo and everyone followed. It was really neat. After finishing the 8, they raced, single-file, in a line back to town. There they joined the dozen or so vehicles and firetruck driving around town, sirens and lights blazing with everyone yelling "Happy New Year!" Pickup trucks were full up of people in the beds hollering Happy New Year. It was all quite infectious and exciting. However, I noticed that basically the whole town was IN the parade so there weren't too many people to wave and yell to. lol.

      Whole families were on the skidoos. Kiddos in the back of the trucks. I can't imagine how you'd keep your kid out of all the excitement on a night like that. But, damn cold! There was no damn way I'd be out there drawing 2018 on the back of a skidoo. YiKeS!

      I also had a business idea----next year, I need to get there early, and set up a hot chocolate and apple cider table! I'd make bank!! And, it would only take about an hour of my actual time to do it. Awesome!! Folks come in and sell soft drinks at the community hall for $3 a can.....folks will pay!!

      Happy New Year!      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 116

      Too north for Northern Lights?

      January 4, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      When Jonathan was visiting, one his major goals was to see the Northern Lights. And, I must admit, I've been mighty remiss in seeking them out. There is something about double-digit minus temperatures and pitch blackness that really takes the motivation out of a person. Meh, some green stuff in the sky. Nah, I'm good. That has apparently been my mentality for the months I've been up here.

      And, to be fair, I did see them out at Allen Island field camp. So, I'm really good now. No need to freeze my face off. But, in the spirit of being a good hostess, I obliged to look up the Aurora forecast and that's when Jonathan and I learned that you can, apparently, live TOO far North to see the best Lights. Are you shitting me??!! I moved to the Arctic and I moved TOO far??!! How is that even possible? It's like the Earth is a freakin big ole jokester.

      We were cracking up. That's life though right? We were laughing that he will have spent a small fortune on a plane ticket, spent two weeks up here, in the Arctic, during the winter when the Northern Lights are most active, only to see nada.

      The forecast was not looking good. The best lights center along the Arctic Circle, which I am well above. We were pretty dismayed. However, out of the blue, I get a text one night from my boss that the Northern Lights were out and great. And, voila! We're donning inadequate clothing, racing out to find these elusive Northern Lights!

      We break out the door and I basically skid into the back of Jonathan because we need not go any further. The lights are literally dancing in the sky in front of my house. Had we not been complete lazy asses for the last week, we probably could have seen more by simply peeling back the curtain for a cursory look. lol.

      The lights this night truly were dancing. They were bright and squiggly (technical term). Of course, fully enjoying them was hampered by the aforementioned hasty, improper dressing. So, after mentally powering through the pain in my hands to take some pics(all with cell phone actually--impressed with the cell phone performance!), we called 'er good and fled back to the toasty warm house.

      Northern Experience points unlocked: 100pts.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 636

      Do you Seal what I See?

      June 8, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

      The summer melt is full upon us here in Igoolik and with it brings much surprises at what lay underneath that obscuring blanket of snow for 8 months. Lots of pooled water that the kids absolutely love. Sometimes makes getting from your front door to some dry land a bit tricky. Rubber boot season.
      Where the snow is gone and the water is gone, we’re left with mostly trash underneath, unfortunately. The snow acts a great eraser. The 8 months of winter creates a giant layer cake with snow layers alternating with trash layers. It’s extremely effective. During the winter, the town landscape appears pristine. The ugly reality of non-degrading objects becomes painfully obvious at this time of year. I think the contrast between the impossible cleanliness the snow imparts and the accumulation of 8 months of dumping is what makes the change seem so stark. There is everything from dirty diapers to snowmobile parts. From the banal cigarette butts to the shocking dog carcasses. My pictures on here show a full seal just chilling in the trash. Looks perfectly edible to me. Not sure why it was there. It’s like the curtain got pulled back from the Wizard.
      Every year the community organizes a clean-up and there is good participation. Last year, the person that collected the most cigarette butts received quite a monetary reward—can’t remember how much, but it was probably pretty good because the monetary rewards/incentives here are usually pretty darn good. Unfortunately, the clean-up has to wait until the snow has all melted and the pooling lakes and mud have dried.
      This isn’t aimed at being negative about the town. It is a fact. There are no municipal services that clean the streets or remove general waste and garbage other than what is in the plywood garbage bins outside each house. In a place where you can’t go to the local home hardware store or Ski-Doo parts store to get things, many people’s land surrounding their home looks like a junk yard. Broken and discarded objects of any type you can imagine are there, just waiting for the time that a throttle cable is needed or a 2 inch hex head bolt. You never know.
      It makes me think of 2 things: 1. The unsung work of municipal/city works that keep your cities and neighborhoods looking clean is like a mother running the household behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly without ever getting the credit she deserves. And 2. The impact humans have on the landscape when we live in a place. I had a coworker that went to Myanmar during the Rohingya refugee crisis. He went there not to provide aid to the people or help the people live, but to assess the dramatic impact the almost instantaneous flood of 400,000 people had into an area with no infrastructure. The refugees had to dig latrines and wells. They dug them very close to one another because, well, that is convenient and there are no codes/bylaws. The refugees need fuel to cook with and heat their shacks with so they cut the surrounding forest to nothing. Mudslides ensued---Onto the refugee camps. It was an aspect of human inhabitation that I never really paid much attention to, and definitely not one I thought about in terms of an unplanned, inundation of people into an area.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      Day 5

      whale jello trampoline

      September 15, 2017 ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      It's a jello trampoline, a jello trampoline, a jello trampoline (sung in the tune of "Yellow Submarine"). Bet you never knew there was a rhyme for yellow submarine! But there is! And it's for when you're jumping on a rotting whale carcass! It's like a jello trampoline.
      Things to be grateful for: cold weather when investigating decomposing sea mammals.

      So that was a big highlight of the day. Getting to see a washed up bowhead whale carcass. Also exciting was realizing that the grease from the whale moved away from the site in a definite, recognizable pattern of polar bear tracks. Further investigation revealed where said whale had been scratched and gnawed on. Just a little though. Maybe not quite rotten enough for the bears yet? Nevertheless, he/she sure greased up her paws and made some tracks! I'm not sure how long it will take before it really sinks in my brain that there are polar bears around. Like around me. Potentially at any time--especially away from town---which is where I was. Not to worry though, we approached the quintessential polar bear feasting site on foot while leaving the shotgun in the truck. You gotta have a little spice in life. I guess. Anyway, no polar bears spotted so it was all good.

      The second big adventure was returning to what was either a cabin or large rock. On the way out to the cache sites where locals bury walrus meat to ferment and cure or whatever---honestly, I don't know what the meat is doing under the piles of rock---but that's neither here nor there. The point is, on the way out to these sites, my partner noted that, "oh wow! Is that a cabin or a huge rock over there?" while pointing some distance to the horizon. I couldn't tell. It was resolved that we'd have to check it out on the way back because it was imperative to know if that was the biggest rock on the island. One must know these things you see. During our return drive, we stopped as close as we could get and began the walk to determine the size of this rock. It was NOT the biggest rock on the island and thus deemed, "a big waste of time" which I took to mean, had it actually been the largest rock on the island, our time would have been well spent.

      I also saw a rarely sighted gyrfalcon and the less uncommon peregrine falcon. Saw an all white arctic fox as well. Mind you, I would not have known these species had I not been told. I am useless in such situations.

      The location of the caches and the washed up whale carcass are "out of town" along the island's tip. I passed by the dump to get there which looked like a big ole smorgasbord of odds, ends, metal, and lumber that potentially could be very useful! Duly noted... Folks like to get "out of town" and go to their cabins. Town gets a bit stuffy and cramped. I will agree that the landscape is much more beautiful without staring at water tanks and broken bikes and trash strewn in ditches and the other usual detritus of humans living as we all do. However, what I found amusing was that near one set of caches there were about 5-8 cabins within slingshot distance from each other. So much for privacy on the land! lol.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Nunavut, NU, نونافوت, ܢܘܢܐܒܘܛ, Нунавут, Νούναβουτ, Nunavuto, نوناووت, Nûnavût, נונאווט, Նունավուտ, Núnavút, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ, ヌナブト準州, ნუნავუტი, 누나부트 준주, Nunavutas, Nunavuta, नुनाव्हुत, Náhookǫsjí Hakʼaz Dineʼé Bikéyah, ਨੂਨਾਵੁਤ, نناوت, Nunavute, Nunavuts, நூனவுட், นูนาวุต, 努那活, 努納武特

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