The Northern Lights, called ᐊᖅᓴᕐᕆᖅ (aqsarniq), are out just about every night. I never get tired of them, although long-term residents sometimes say, "Oh yeah...I didn't notice..." I guess I may get used to them. (But I hope not!)
Rainbows are far more elliptical in the north. And much wider, too. There was a gorgeous one today as I was walking home, in a little puddle of sunshine nestled between two stormy gray clouds. With a hand held out arms' length, it took most of my palm to cover the band. Amazing!
You learn to roll with life's hiccups that would send others into a tizzy. Monday we ran out of water. Tuesday the town had a major power outage and no water got delivered. Can we possibly say how important toilets become in your thoughts when you cannot flush one? Well, the Northern has a water machine that was fortunately in service so we bought a few jugs for emergency flushes. Failing that, it would have been a jog to the creek or the bay to fill jugs. Yep, a regular day. Today, yippee! water is here. I am squeaky clean and rejoicing in flushability.
Light also doubles as an alarm clock (and I am thankful this was not December!) The power was off again during the night. I woke up to a lightening shade of gray, looked at the clock which read 3:42, and didn't believe it. I jumped out of bed to find it was really 6:30 am and I had only overslept by 30 minutes. I will have to buy a wind-up clock for reserve when I have my trip out in November. No students were marked late because, well, how can you blame them?
I leave work and go to the Co-op and meet many of my students who hold down part-time jobs. One reason I do not assign a lot of homework. Many teens do extra duty at home or earn extra to help their families. I'll actually be doing a bit of double duty myself this year. I am doing some part-time guarding at the jail. Should be interesting (as long as I can stay awake!) I will take the Honda to school tomorrow as I am working tomorrow night.
And finally, food mail days are better than Christmas! You never know what you'll get from the store, as sometimes they substitute or run out, so every box is a surprise. Today I was delighted buy the arrival of the Highliner Pan Sear lime and chili tilapia. Oh yummmmm! I will be in heaven for the next while. And I got my Renee's dressing for my broccoli slaw salad...but alas, no broccoli slaw. Guess I'll order coleslaw and broccoli, and then make my own.
Off to chill, and take an aspirin for a headache associated with my first caught-from-the-kids cold of the year. Sigh....(sniffle...sniff....hack....)
TTFN!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
A fond farewell to summer and a return for three more years to Sanikiluaq,
It was a marvelous summer, full of all that makes summer wonderful: lots of sunshine, hot days, friends and family, and a trip to Disney World in Florida. The only regret is that summer only lasts for two months and winter seems to last forever!
My return was ALMOST uneventful. The plane ride to Montreal was smooth, the hotel was nice, and while Tigger was upset and whined all night I knew I could catch up on my sleep later. The check-in at the Air Inuit desk went smoothly, and they did not even charge for the 9 kg overweight in my luggage. However, when I got to Sanikiluaq and picked up my luggage there was no cat carrier! In a panic, I called to the crew who searched the cargo hold...no Tigger! When I finally got through to the desk at the Dorval airport they told me thta Tigger had been held back as their security scanners were not working. ARGH!!! Did they discover he had clandestine meetings with Bin Laden or something? I could have held him while they scanned his crate through the oversize luggage machine had they said anything. But no...so he went on a multi-plane hop across the north on a later flight to catch Air Inuit on return to Sani while I paced in a tizzy.
Tim (my principal) picked me up when we heard the plane go over at 5:00 pm and thankfully, Tigger and carrier emerged unscathed. He was rather upset and has not left my side, and he was rather hungry and thirsty, but otherwise he was okay. He has been getting settled into the place again, peeking into every nook and cranny. Sadly, the windows are still boarded up until housing can get over this afternoon, so his favorite perch no longer provides the outdoor view that he craves, but he'll live.
I did get to the Northern to pick up my Honda. Yay! It is a riot to drive, and I am learning how to shift smoothly. I had a whole contingent of my kids from last year join me for a test drive and we had a good laugh together as I hiccupped the Honda down the road. I'm much smoother today but still struggling to get it into reverse from time to time. Have to work on that one. Here's a shot of my new toy...
And so begins another year and another adventure. I wonder what this one will bring? I guess as long as it brings my boxes of supplies that I mailed from Toronto I'll be happy, LOL!
TTFN!
My return was ALMOST uneventful. The plane ride to Montreal was smooth, the hotel was nice, and while Tigger was upset and whined all night I knew I could catch up on my sleep later. The check-in at the Air Inuit desk went smoothly, and they did not even charge for the 9 kg overweight in my luggage. However, when I got to Sanikiluaq and picked up my luggage there was no cat carrier! In a panic, I called to the crew who searched the cargo hold...no Tigger! When I finally got through to the desk at the Dorval airport they told me thta Tigger had been held back as their security scanners were not working. ARGH!!! Did they discover he had clandestine meetings with Bin Laden or something? I could have held him while they scanned his crate through the oversize luggage machine had they said anything. But no...so he went on a multi-plane hop across the north on a later flight to catch Air Inuit on return to Sani while I paced in a tizzy.
Tim (my principal) picked me up when we heard the plane go over at 5:00 pm and thankfully, Tigger and carrier emerged unscathed. He was rather upset and has not left my side, and he was rather hungry and thirsty, but otherwise he was okay. He has been getting settled into the place again, peeking into every nook and cranny. Sadly, the windows are still boarded up until housing can get over this afternoon, so his favorite perch no longer provides the outdoor view that he craves, but he'll live.
I did get to the Northern to pick up my Honda. Yay! It is a riot to drive, and I am learning how to shift smoothly. I had a whole contingent of my kids from last year join me for a test drive and we had a good laugh together as I hiccupped the Honda down the road. I'm much smoother today but still struggling to get it into reverse from time to time. Have to work on that one. Here's a shot of my new toy...
And so begins another year and another adventure. I wonder what this one will bring? I guess as long as it brings my boxes of supplies that I mailed from Toronto I'll be happy, LOL!
TTFN!
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