New this week

We are in the middle of a heat wave! Can you believe it? The kids are going to school NOT wearing  neck warmers (like scarves, but no ends to tuck in or get caught on things). It is so mild, they don't really need their heavy parkas--a regular winter coat would be fine.  We didn't even bother to plug the car in last night. That's right, for an entire night, in February, in Iqaluit, the car's block heater was not plugged in. I also had to scrape my windshield this afternoon, for the first time all winter.  Normally, the snow here is like dry powder.  There is no such thing as building a snowman in the middle of winter, the snow just won't clump together. (Igloos are made by sawing the hard packed snow on the ground into brick-like chunks, then lifting them up and tilting them together.) Normally we just brush the snow off the car and off we go. Today it was so warm the falling snow actually melted onto my windshield enough to freeze into ice. Crazy!

From a week ago.

From Tuesday

Driving home tonight I came across a typical Canadian scene:  a hockey net was placed smack in the middle of the road across from our house.  Five kids, of various ages, were outside playing road hockey.  What was neat about this though, was that it has been too COLD for the kids to do this until now.  It was very dark out (the sun had set long ago, this is still Iqaluit), but the kids were keen to pose for pictures anyway. (I lightened the pictures as much as I could, otherwise they were just dark blurs.)

The girls were beating the boys 5-2.

While overall the warm weather is good news for me, it isn't great news for a lot of other people.
The prospect of an early spring or mild winter makes some locals uneasy--less sea ice on the bay means travel is more difficult. Frobisher Bay is used as a  thoroughfare for snowmobiles traveling to various hunting locations, and steering a snowmobile on wet snow can be challenging.  Also, ice melting early means less opportunity for seal hunting (seals are hunted through holes in the ice where they come up to breathe).  The Inuit rely on the extreme cold temperatures. If this were to continue, it could mean a shortened hunting season. Since hunting is the primary source of income for many, that would mean far less money in the community. The general feeling now is that winter isn't over, and spring isn't here yet.  This is a just a little "blip" in the weather, and the cold will return. Time will tell.

In other news, the sun is starting to rise earlier and earlier, which is lousy.  This is the first year the time change (springing ahead) is going to be a good thing for this family, as ironically, we'll get more sleep.  I have already put the blackout blinds back up in Captain Jack's room, and am working on our bedroom next. Sunrise today was 6:44am, which means the sky started to get light around 5:44.  The sun  is setting at 4:51pm. The supper-time sunset should feel normal to me for this time of year, but both JJ and I find ourselves looking around in the afternoon saying "Wow! Look how bright it is!"

Ugh.  I am really going to struggle when we are down to only a couple of hours of darkness per night.  Its funny, you would think that having been through such a cold, dark winter, that one would welcome the extra sunlight.  And I do, but adapting to the dark was easier than I thought it would be.  It was a little rough at the start (and felt quite weird), but you got used to the darkness.  I'm terrified at the thought of not being able to sleep at night though.  I am a MESS when I don't get sleep.  We're talking horrible, awful, inhumane mess.

source

More news: Coraline got her hair coloured!  She has been working very hard to raise her grades in school, and managed to achieve quite a few "A's" this past term. Her goal:  get enough A's to get Mom to agree to take her to the hairstylist.  She did it!  The deal was she got to do whatever she wanted with her hair.  Anything.  She went with caramel and violet highlights.

Since Coraline got her hair done, of course Captain Jack wanted his done as well.  Captain Jack's report card was excellent, so I didn't have grounds to refuse him. I knew Coraline would choose something age-appropriate and subtle, based on her personality. I also knew that Captain Jack......wouldn't. But hey, its only hair.

First the stylist bleached his hair....

....then added the color. He went with "tomato red". 

Unlike in a lot of places where hockey is winding down, hockey in Iqaluit is continuing. And, the coaches have mixed things up quite a bit. They have combined two age groups, and now have enough players to make four teams. The teams will play games each Saturday. CJS is on the Aiviqs (walrus in Iuktitut). The other teams include the Okpiks (owls), Tulugaks (ravens), and Nanuks.  Nanuk means "bear", although to southerners it would mean "polar bear".  Here there is no need to differentiate, as there are no other types of bear.

Also, we have entered into sun transit time again. JJ got this memo (below) in an email from the Government of Nunavut, as it obviously affects work everywhere.  For those of you who don't remember, our internet comes from satellite.  Twice a year, for about a week, the orbit of the sun passes very close to the satellite.  For up to fifteen minutes a day, the radiation from the sun interferes the satellite signal, so EVERYONE in the city loses their internet connection. This also would obviously affect satellite television, phones, etc.

That's all that's new this week!  Tune in next time! I may be taking you on a tour of the city, not sure yet.