It's Spring...Catch my Drift?

On Friday, Spring arrived. I wore a Baseball cap into the Kivalliq Health Centre and told eveyone on the way in....Spring has arrived..time to throw out your winter hats..The outside temp was -28C...the winds were steady about 20 km/hr. They wanted to call the Mental Health Nurse or thought perhaps I had slipped on the ice and hit my head.

The Cats are busy trying to restore  access and roads

Neither...you see, spring was in the air. On the calendar it said spring. Problem is...it won't get here for a while. The reality is that we have a few more weeks of cold weather. It has gotten warmer since I've been here. This week the forecast shows mid to high teens during the day. The sun is much stronger and the days are longer....but the snow after last weeks blizzard is also much deeper.

For many days we have had single lanes cut through the drifts.

Snow Steps

Please use the Back Door!

The quad is out, the SUV later this spring! Snow steps to the front door.

The Green Airport Terminal at CYRT

Last sunday, after the winds had been blowing for about 4 hours. The arena announcer, between periods of the final game of the last hockey tournament of the winter declared.."will someone go next door to the school and tell the kids to stop playing on the roof?"

I wandered around Area 6 this morning. It's the newest serviced area in the hamlet and thought I would let the photos and their captions try to tell the real tale. If a picture is worth a thousand words...not another be needed. Enjoy!

Between the two red triangles there is a fire hydrant

The Coldest Spot in Nunavut

There has been a bit of a warming trend since the storm ended early Wednesday morning, here in Rankin Inlet. Not quite the plus temps of Niagara, by any means, but not the -55 wind chills of the past few weeks either. The trend for the next few days continues to warm...today is -19...and is sunny and bright. Since my arrival on February 12, the daylight hours have increased and so have the temperatures.

The view across 'Old Town' from atop the hill

Last evening, as the sun had just set there were five kids having a snowball fight outside my window...local time 7:30 p.m. The sun rises just around 7 in the morning and feels stronger every day. Just because it's cold out, that doesn't seem to stop the kids here from playing outside all the time. Extreme winds seem to be the only restriction.

A little frost

 With our weather shortened work week ended, it was a great day to go out and get some photos. The only problem I've found, is that after you are outside in these temperatures for extended periods, the cameras seem to seize up temporarily, until they are thawed or defrosted or whatever term you would like to use. They bounce back.

More frost on a cold saturday morning

Two weeks ago before one of the short weekend blizzards hit, I happened to visit the Matchbox Gallery. As I walked past the CBC building, I remembered being in the same area on a Saturday afternoon around 2, back in January 2008. This time, instead of heading directly back to the apartment, I turned right at the CBC building and climbed the incline, up the hill a few hundred meters and paused. There is a great view of Rankin Inlet from this lookout spot.

The weathered crosses of a wind swept area

The top of the hill is also a special spot in Rankin Inlet. It's the local cemetery. At -40C with another 10-12 degrees of wind chill as the winds here blow 25 km/hr or more, it has to be one of the coldest spots in Nunavut. The changes in 7 years are that the number of graves has increased and there is evidence that they are expanding it. The fence has been moved at the one end and it looks like work was underway to make it larger before the winter set in.

My visit here in 2008 was by mistake. I was following a road and trying to get some great overhead views of the town. That Saturday, there had been a funeral for a teenager in our hamlet. The young lad had hanged himself Tuesday after school. He had arrived by ambulance at the Health Centre and we tried our best..but failed him. I had stumbled upon the graveyard after family and friends had left. The wind was blowing the snow and the sun barley broke through the cloud cover. It was a cold place.

This year, when I visited the graves, I made a small wish. I, sincerely, hoped that we would not experience another situation like that one. I knew that mental health is a concern of many. There is much more conversation about it than there has ever been. Suicides of younger people here in the Arctic are too common. This trip, I had been here 5 weeks, when tragedy struck again. Another suicide.

The pickets of the fence are intricate

Thankfully, for this community here, it was not a local person. This time, the location was in Saskatchewan. That community is grieving their loss. His family has lost a son. A talented young photographer, and former associate of mine at the camera store was the victim.  He was a competent paramedic. Compassionate. Energetic. Trusting.  A guy who loved to climb, had a great girlfriend, Jill. They had stopped in at the store the last time they were in St. Catharines and I was fortunate enough to have a great conversation with them both. The seemed made for each other. There was talk of marriage.

There are few flowers, but many graves are surrounded by rocks

Jill and Jack left the store that afternoon and I said to myself what a nice couple. I only wished them well in their life together. Yesterday after lunch, I received an email...the kind no one likes to get. I'm sure that Jill is heartbroken in her grief. Jack's family...the same. There is no way that they'll ever know the real reason...just lot's more questions than answers. Rest in peace, Jack Spyker, rest in peace.     
 

The coldest spot in Rankin Inlet

Winter's Last Day

There's always been an anticipation of the onset of spring. The end of the few cold months,

Sunday Morning's Window Covering

the strength of the sun against your face, the renewal of nature...the cycles begins once again.

Here in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, we have had the weather of Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and New Brunswick all rolled into three days. You may have wondered why no updates at this web address in the past couple of days. Explanation....digging out as you will see illustrated here.

Monday Afternoon only 50 yards away

Figuratively...not actually. You may have noticed my facebook revelation about the blizzard and how it was affecting us. Well, now that the storm is past. It wound down around midnight Tuesday. It's time to update and tell a few tales of the blizzard that we can label 'The Spring Break Extension'. Last week, both elementary and the high school students had their March Break and classes were set to resume on monday.

The blizzard had been promised to start sunday evening by Environment Canada on Friday, so we had plenty of warning. Sunday was a glorious day with the highest temperatures since last fall. It got up to -2  and the stairs out of the wind and in the sun were actually melting !  Of course, this was after the freezing rain overnight, so it may have been the application of some salt rather than just the temperature difference.
 

A times it clears a bit then strengthens once again

During a last minute trip to stock up should it actually hit, I met a local who told me he hadn't seen freezing rain in March since the mid seventies. The low pressure area to our northwest meant it was coming and by six the clouds had gathered and the winds began to howl. With all the ice coated snow from the freezing rain, I didn't expect to see much blowing snow as I felt it would be well anchored.

Breaking through the drifts again! Wednesday morning early....the 50 yard hydro pole much clearer now!

  

Wrong. As the darkness fell and the winds now reached 70 km/hr, there was much blowing snow! ...And the snow continued most of Monday, through Tuesday until late Tuesday night as the winds diminished.  Gusts above 140km/hr, steady winds at 100 km/hr...the windows and siding vibrated with the steady pounding. From our second story blizzard observatory, you could judge the visibility by the number of poles visible, one two, three and four...many times more, mostly none.

Engine compartments are jammed with drifted, packed snow

The number of people walking were sparse as was the number of snow machines. There were no quads, cars, or trucks...only large cats with buckets, or bulldozers with blades. Most of the time these were barely visible as they used or cleared the road. Everyone had hunkered down. The nurse on call, their second on call, and the doc on call had all taken refuge at the Kivalliq Health Centre. Hot food, few calls and little sleep on makeshift mattresses til Wednesday morning was their reward.

We'll come back with heavier equipment

Due to the drifting snow throughout the hamlet, the schools, government offices and most businesses were closed. Our water had stopped flowing during  Monday, so we had ventured out to the health centre to shower and check in Tuesday. While we waited our turn, I warmed the processor in case we would get called back. Never happened, till the next day. The main road was plowed but not much else as the storm was continuing. 

Fourteen to sixteen foot drifts carved at the airport parking lot.

We picked up our drinkable water jugs, I had stored in xray and we were set for the rest of the storm. The rising and falling winds, the hourly updates on the airport website indicating increasing, decreasing wind speeds, visibility and temps and wind chills during the entire storm. While our water taps were not flowing, the two remaining Guinness were appreciated. I can always remember, a good friend and colleague, Terry Collins, with whom I would agree when he would say...we always get some snow during St. Patty's Day...more often than not we did..even if it was only a few flakes.

Walking on the hard packed drifts

By the time the storm subsided during Tuesday night, we knew there was lots of snow around. You had an appreciation from our observatory, but full appreciation occurred before eight on Wednesday morning as we headed into work. The sun was bright, the sky...a clear blue and remnants of the storm were easily recognizable. Arriving at the Health Centre, we found it closed due to road closures caused by drifting. After our shower, and refill of our jugs, we traversed a bit to get an idea of the extent of the storm. Let's just say that after 48 hours, many residents have not been able to extract their vehicles and many houses are using alternative entrances.

Two Pickups buried deep

Today is Thursday and this was our first day back at the health centre this week...and Spring break was over for the schools. Cars are still buried tonight. Complete engine compartments are packed with snow. Houses and businesses have huge drifts to contend with. The clearing will continue yet for a few days. 

In Rankin Inlet, the residents are glad winter is almost over...so the Spring storms...can soon begin.

Wearing of the "WHITE!"

A Happy St. Patty's Day from the great white north!

It's been a snowy day here in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. No...let me rephrase and tell it honestly.  The past 48 hours and continuing into the night, we have had a blizzard. Snow is something, but couple that with howling 87 km/hr winds gusting well over 100...and continuing the entire two days AND NIGHTS... now that's a blizzard.

The wind has been blowing from the same direction (from the west--the direction of the airport) the entire time. During the daylight hours yesterday the sun was actually poking through and added some extra depth of visibility but that faded fast. According to Environment Canada we ended at times with two tenths of a kilometer of visibility...most of the time the weather has stated zero visibility.

Environment Canada latest weather monday a.m...and the winds INCREASED!

I have been counting visibility by the number of hydro poles I can see from the bay window. During the storm the best visibility has been four poles, the worst...less that one. The difference from this blizzard and my record winning one from January 2008 is that I can seeout a bay window, have a street to watch, and we have had power the entire time. So, we also have heat and water, although a trickle, continues. Internet has been quite good considering the stress everyone in town must be putting on the resources here.

With digital enhancement our road drift being cleared yesterday

Satellite TV has been intermittent at the times of the heaviest snowfall, as is normal with satellites. The sunspots, this time, are not to blame. The difference, here, is that I have nothing pre-recorded to view when its not working. Thankfully, those times have been few and far between.

With my viewing limited somewhat, I have developed an appreciation of the efforts of the Canadian border security people and their counterparts in Australia.  If you have ever watched the program, people are trying all kinds of ways, to bring illicit and illegal weapons and goods into our country. Then there are those, who can only be classified as "you can't cure stupid". 

An Irish Lunch....Chips, Dip and Guinness

But it's St. Patrick's Day. The weather at home may be greening...but that's only a wish for the future here. Spring may be only days on the calendar but it might as well be a Irish pipe dream away. To celebrate the day of the green, I brought up four cans of Guinness. The final one to be devoured with my supper.As I said on Facebook earlier, three are now a memory and last is but, a dream.

This is a dry town. There has been some movement on having beer and wine available in the grocery stores and that may happen soon. At the moment those commodities and hard liquor must be ordered from the capital across the Bay. I have no idea of the process nor the price, but rest assured it will arrive by plane...and the prices will also reflect that.

The road gets scraped on Sunday

The storm continues. So, for the second day in a row, we have been weathered at home. The storm continues with 70 plus km/hr winds and, although visibility is now two poles, darkness will soon arrive. Yesterday, we had the road crews through to handle the drifts that are throughout the hamlet. In this part of the country they know how to handle snow.

 On Sunday, after the freezing rain, a grader came along and scrapped off the ice coating. Actually, what he did was just scrap down to a new layer of snow, which was much less slippery. The application of gravel is much more common, but used sparingly as it tends to blow on the polished streets. Salt is not applied. Gravel is found locally and does not have to be imported.

As the weather continues, it's time for the Guiness and my Irish stew, but the platter looks more like spaghetti and meatballs. Here in the north you accept substitutions, without question.
In Rankin Inlet, we are celebrating spring this friday, but only on the calendar. Currently, we are experiencing winter at its highest level.

The warmest of mitts

In february, Wiarton Willie had predicted six more weeks of winter...but that ended yesterday! The blizzard weather continues with strength and veracity. The people here would love to have some warmer weather arrive soon. You could see that Sunday morning when the temperatures rose to a high of -2C. The Inuit people have a certain way of dealing with the weather. They tolerate and adapt, but at this point the general feeling, in this town, would be that Wiarton Willie would make a fine pair of mitts.

Basket Cases

North West Company's 'The  Northern' grocery, hardware, clothing & Tim's

Life in the north...it goes without saying that, due to transportation and handling, food prices here are

significantly more expensive, than what we are used to at home. I've held back a bit with this tale since it's common to most and I wanted to be able to view it from more of a local perspective.

Before the blizzard hit on sunday night, I decided it would be prudent to make sure I had sufficient supplies for a few extra days..just in case. So late sunday, once the locals had sufficient time to stock their larders, I decided it was time to see what was left. The shelves were becoming bare, not completely but much more than the normal restocking required after a busy weekend.

The Tim's kiosk At the Northern during a slow time...Open since June 2013

There was lots of the staples like milk, eggs, butter, and margarine...but bread was starting to get sparse. Snacks had been cleared...there was lots of meat but vegetables were starting to thin as well. There were a few families just picking last minute things like myself, and the Tim's kiosk in the Northern was empty...save for one table of teens. Spring break for the locals schools was last week so they probably were plotting what they would do on their extended march break if the blizzard did indeed arrive.

Before we get to the prices, an observation of the family ahead of me in line. Cases of pop are expensive. He had two on the bottom shelf of the basket and a number of pre-made sandwiches and lunch treats, apples and snacks for the kids lunches. One full shopping cart....the basket fully loaded...and my mouth dropped as the cash register totalled $499.67. He calmly reached for his debit and loaded the kids, the boxes of groceries into the huge white pickup and drove away.

So lets talk prices. Bread is around $3.45 for a loaf of wonder bread which I bought at 50% reduction since they had lots one day and were probably expecting another shipment...haven't seen that since. The 12 grain loaves, I usually buy, go for $4.19 and they were on sale one week at 30 cents off. Becel Margarine 454 gm $6.35...a dozen large eggs were reasonable at $2.49....a half gallon of Orange juice was $7.95....a gallon of 2% milk was $7.59...while the International Delight Irish Cream coffee creamer was $5.29 for 473 ml.

Condiments are another thing. A 475 ml jar of Miracle Whip was $6.59....French's mustard 225 ml was $3.19 while Bick's relish was $5.49 for 375 ml. Soft drinks are expensive due to weight...I'm paying $2.39 a can for 7-Up....you'd think I was eating at a sports venue.

Brace yourself for the meat department. ..500 grams of no name Bacon is $4.39...A package of Schneiders Red Hots were $7.29....two small boneless pork loin chops were $5.17...and a pound of lean ground beef was $9.50. Chicken, well the chickens here are very small. Pre-cooked meats are available friday and saturday in the heated display, just before the checkouts, but they were $14.99 for a whole chicken. I bought 5 chicken drums, very nicely prepped, for $6.24.

For my lunch, I've been buying apples...the Gala apples are $4.30 a kilo so I'm in for $2.55 for three. The other produce was a small cooking oinion at 1.79 /kg, and mine was a steal at 22 cents. One of the staff told me a story about they had paid $7 for this wonderful looking tomato...put it in their knapsack for the journey home..about three blocks. When putting it into the fridge, she noticed a small blemish on its side. The next day the tomato had completely rotted from the quick freeze on the way home..She now takes a taxi home when she buys produce.

Fresh good looking vegetables are hard to come by. Last week at the flea market the Arctic Buying company had brought in assorted bags of produce from Winnipeg and were selling two reusable grocery bags, like those big green ones at Sobey's, the price was $45 for two and they were flying off the table. They contained celery, asparagus, lettuce, carrots, blueberries, and a myriad of other greens that I couldn't visualize easily.

Of course, the Sushi table there, was also very active.

So, you can see how the price of groceries can add up quite quickly here...add a couple of teenagers, and before you know it, you could be spending $500 very easily. There is a promotion here in Rankin Inlet, since March is Nutrition Month. Banners in the Grocery Store and the Health Centre encourage healthy diets...a mixture of 'store-bought” and 'Country' foods.

The term 'country' food pertains to wild game, fish or beast, taken from the land. They hunt and fish but use what they catch. Their food bank program here involves a freezer bank program, where successful hunters and fishers donate to the freezers so that elders and those without, may not suffer the agony of starvation in this climate. That is a part of the history here, that is still fresh in the minds of the elders, but can't possibly be understood by their grandchildren, and great grandchildren when access to food is so easy. Currently, in Rankin Inlet, food is readily available, just be prepared for the sticker shock.

Half Kilo of lean ground beef, Wonder white bread on sale and Knorr Onion soup 4 pack totalled $17.20