What can I say except the four hours out this afternoon met all my expectations PLUS!

Another clear sunny day with a temperature of minus 27oC with minimal wind, 1 PM was our starting time. The sun is now up from about 9 AM to 5 PM. Yesterday it was Max Temp. -22.3°C and Min Temp. -27.8°C.but there was a wind and I felt it with just my sweater when skiing.

The Sunday skiing group was also taking off from the house at the same time. Joanne graciously agreed to take them, and more experienced at winter travel, being in this community for 10 years, she got concerned that I did not have enough to keep me warm. Arriving at noon on her skidoo, there was a thermos, Baffin boots with double duffle insets and good to minus 40, MEC snow pants and a backpack. I had my Patagonia long johns, black hoodie face mask, neck warmer, toque and heavy parka. All proved very necessary. Taking my mitts on and off to use the camera, my fingers got cold and on the return trip ended up using the extra pair of socks as inner gloves.

Many of the Inuit going out were in traditional caribou clothing, as you can see by the two children in our party in before and after dressing shots .

Rhoda and her husband also had caribou pants and tall kamiks with sheepskin soles, immensely practical and warm.   She told me she had sewn these all herself.  The dog harnesses with the pink pomp pomes were done by her husband, Olyak who has had dog teams since 1985, and yesterday came in second in the local races. Both seem equally adept at harnessing the dogs and enroute untangling dogs while still running, which really amazed me.

In our group there were two wooden kamootiks (sleds), one with a box for storage of back packs, ropes, Coleman stove etc; counted 14 dogs that got often switched and two running loose. One of the dogs was called “Macaroni” as he was raised on macaroni and spaghetti sauce! Her daughter Nancy followed in a skidoo.

The teams are tied on the ice and these shots are from walk across to meet them.

My house is the middle unit there to the left of the brown house and this is the powerhouse and fuel station on the opposite side.

  The dogs seem to be controlled totally by calls from the driver that encourage them to pull and turn as needed. There is also a long whip but I only saw this used one or twice, however if a dog got tangled or began to fight they were definitely chided. There were several stops when this happened and a three-pronged small anchor was dropped off the kamootik to bring it to a stop and also prevent the dogs from taking off.

At one point when we first began I was alone on the led and able to get these wonderful shots of the dogs pulling.

This shot is as we turned around the corner from the hamlet, beautiful red cliffs and the spot where our ski trips climb the hills. Called and waved.

There were others out as well, including this older man and his wife. If more than one person on the kamootik, the proper way to sit I was told is sideways with straight legs and boots over the edge, a position which found as I am tall not the easiest to maintain for a long period.

This a view looking back with the second kamootik tied to the first.

You can tell at this point  I was ready for tea and pulled on the extra neck warmer. There were 4 or 5 parties that joined together about 3:30 or 4 PM. Some via dog sled and others skidoo. Coleman stoves were brought out, water boiled, tea and biscuits shared and some caribou, and a fair bit of visiting. Several of the sleds were turned over and the runners were iced and smoothed with fresh water. Was told we were about 6 miles away from Arctic Bay.

The dogs rested and curled up or lay on backs rubbing. The children chased each other over the rises of ice while adults chatted and of course, enjoyed getting their pictures, and viewing them from the digital. Had my other camera and got about 4 prints at the end of the role, with the comment from one lady that this was an “ old fashioned “ camera.

At this point my batteries died! Just too cold and so were my fingers to dig into the pack to replace them with the alternates I brought.

Few words were said on the return trip, as Olyak, his grandson and I were on the first kamootik and Nancy and Rhoda alternated driving the other team. Again there were several close calls as the two sleds almost collided, and I pulled my feet in but they managed to untangle dogs while still running, which really amazed me.

The sun was setting a red gold ball behind the mountains   reflecting on the opposite deep chalky red cliffs and I was one cold, but content and “happy camper”.

Plodding back across the ice was surprised by Joanne in her skidoo but ride home appreciated. A cup of hot chocolate and gear returned realized that I was perhaps abit chilled so a hot bath and nap were much merited!
                       

http://www.arcticcircle.ca/baffin/arctic/

The Saturday ski forays are now becoming limited and after I leave I hope one of the RNs Joanne may be able to take over, at least for the odd times when she is not on call. Yesterday was overcast and windy and cold to the point was glad I got a ride home. Today however turned out to be much better weather than expected, with clear blue skies and just excellent for skiing as you can see from these shots. Had a younger one today, nine year old Murphy who ended up on skis much too long for him, but was pushing to keep up with the older ones and did the hills well. This is Harry, the Phys. Ed teacher at the school, stopped on his skidoo. Between Harry and Frank who is cadet leader and at the power corp. we have got together the assortment of skis in use.

The highlight of the weekend however is going to be a dog sled ride with one of the local families! Have been told to dress warm and bring a thermos as will be out for about 3 hrs.  If the batteries in my camera are not too cold, I hope to get some good shots.
     

Both of these shots I like.... the double rainbow  “sun dogs” taken at noon today.

 And if you look close on this shot from my morning walk you will see the pale slice of the moon above the horizon and this one is walking home about 6:30 PM

My supply of fresh vegetables and fruits has begun to dwindle and so again I found myself perusing the half empty shelves of produce at COOP. A very limited selection and so thought one apple and one grapefruit would be oaky. You get to the point where yes it is more expensive but just pay it! Normally not one to use canned goods I did pick up a few tins, small can of peas $1.99 and med tim of pineapple or strawberries for $3.99, frozen orange juice also$3.99, a Pepsi can $2.25 or clamato juice $2.59 But when at the till the one grapefruit was almost $4, I put it back and was pleased at the same value for canned fruit.

There is another option called Food Mail in which one orders and pays in advance and a fresh order from a store in Iqaluit by plane and is delivered right to your door. Much better produce and prices and if I were here longer definitely worth signing up.

I seen here many colorful combinations as this amauti that this young mother toting her two year old said her mother had made whom I encountered on the return to the office.

A number of my shots are taken at noon hour just above the school ground,  including this dog who came visiting. Reminds me of the combinations of breeds in Pond Inlet. The bus delivers both in the morning and at noon, and if you look closely you will notice that the graffiti or names are often written on a snow covered wall.

The sewing attempts continue with the application of these birds but tonight at sewing was a lesson in patience and that new skills are learned one step at a time. I felt very much the “ tall kablunach “ women in this group that are deftly seated on the floor. My cardboard patterns for mitts were modified to a smaller size as the elder lady took my hand and measured various proportions. I then traced them on to the two rabbit skins with pencil. Then came the task of cutting with the ulu, the small curved woman’s knife. One cannot use scissors because the fur gets cut. So after an initial demonstration I was on my own. Holding in the correct position and sharpening on scissors were two new skills. At difficult points such as curves there was some help but it was very piece meal and I was amazed as how smooth the ladies could make their cuts. Rabbit mitts done before I go???
  

Time has gone quickly I will be leaving here in just a few weeks, just as I am starting to feel like I am getting to know the community and become involved. So thoughts turn to next summer and hopes to return to this area, the Baffin region. However it would seem that social work coverage in Pond Inlet is already committed and they are doing screening and interviewing for a permanent worker here in Arctic Bay. I like to come back to the same community as it offers some continuity in my work, and it is with much regret that I may not be able to come back to either hamlet, but this is the reality of working casual contracts. All I do know is that I will not give up this opportunity to work in the North, even is something more permanent in Alberta came up.

This was taken yesterday walking on the way to a home visit just after 4PM when the golden pink light was on the top of the cliffs. The last two mornings I have been walking to work across the ice and in the returning light one can see tthe whole valley, like an amphitheatre....counted 8 peaks or points to the surrounding hills/ mountains.

Sunday was a beautiful day and you know you are in the arctic when the minus 20s not minus 30s and no wind feels warm and reminders that spring is on its way. Even the plant at the office is making a valiant effort.

 This 930 A.M. color on the horizon and puppies tugging on fresh seal meat are the view from my living room window.

The days are getting longer ( 15 minutes/day ) but the actual time of real sunlight is still just about 2 hrs a day, so my aim for skiing is  to get as far along the shore to experience some sun.

Both indoor and outdoor activities this weekend.  Shared Saturday supper invite with two of the nurses, a wonderful turkey dinner and scrabble game with three 11year old girls. We worked in teams but the game finished quickly with the announcement that the movie at the school gym had already started.

 “ The Journal of Knud Rasmussen ‘ had already seen last October ( see  blog entries ) in Edmonton but a second time, noted more details on family relationships and the different characters, such as the three spirit helpers or shadow people, to the old man who was the shaman. Set in 1910, the film included the dilemma faced by he and his family when starving and encountering an other Inuit camp who had become recent Christian converts. Most of the dialogue was Inuktitut with English subtitles and it was filmed in Igoolik, another community on Baffin Island.

Spent an hour at the school on Friday sorting boots and poles and throwing out mismatched boots or with ripped toes. Am also going to be recommending some equipment ordering for the cadet group and so any recommendations of sizes, brands, costs etc would be welcome. Basically am looking at 3 small, 3 medium and 2 large teen sized sets of equipment ( skiis boots poles ) and sunglasses. Remember Inuit children are much shorter than those in the south.
….Skiing on Saturday was totally boys who again with persistence and falls took the hills enthusiastically.

The snow is very different than the fully moist stuff of the south...it is windswept and hard packed and often finding bare spots on the ice. Our climbing hills starts with the ice patches that
have risen on the edge of the ice due to the tides and we generally
follow skidoo tracks. On Sunday one of the nurses and a few girls were added to the mix. Out for a full two hours, actually found myself taking off some layers of neck warmer and outer vest and not wearing the heavy parka of last week.

Other activities on the ice included these golfers
and dog teams.

I hope to get out with a team at least once before I go next month.

How I used the caribou…stir fry with vegetables and pot roast with potatos and just a smidgen of water in the bottom to keep tender and make gravy.

Beginnings of new sewing project….although not exactly like my mitts shown here as each community has a slightly different pattern and method of making mitts and slippers, this is the basic pattern. These were originally drawn on paper and then transferred to cardboard, actually the back of a cheerios box. The ladies at the sewing class made up the pattern according to my hand size, and there are arrows as to where the pieces join. I  thought I would start first by trying in cloth before I move to rabbit fur, but we will see how it progresses.
                           

 Am getting footprints from a wider base than before from the mid-west US to District of Columbia to  Germany and even Saskatoon! Also the slew of northern bloggers....any of you xangians have suggestions for allowing others to leave comments?

Note that the photos are being viewed and again no problem sharing but please if you do download, acknowledge my blog as your source! thanks!