since arrival in Rankin with both joys and frustrations and still settling in....still operating between two residences as where I am house sitting,  Cindy and Matt just left on Wednesday and the dogs stay here overnight, but I am still in the " Barn " which is transient housing for nurses, social workers and mental health etc....do allow pets in these units but not in the other newer ones I have been in here previously.Plan to move the balance of my clothes and food this weekend if can get access to a van or taxi. It has been quite a routine of walking and /or biking between places at lunch and after work to feed and care for dogs. Dysis still lets out this woefully husky wail as I leave but seems to them settle down. Both are tied next to dog houses outside. Frustrations... well... the two times I either succeeded in locking myself out or losing keys and having to make after hours calls....thankful that this is spring and not minus 30oC

Some of the major adjustments that any one goes through coming north at this time of year in in both light differences and temperature. Two weeks ago I was working in the yard and garden in plus 20oC and biking with shorts and sandals and sunglasses...the bike and sunglasses remain the same but temperature is on the average just a few degrees above freezing, most of the the roads are a variety of crushed gravel except for the one paved road to the airport and I am dressing in layers including hoodie, vest, toque and gloves and gortex jacket.The padded bike gloves are great for handling leashes and my digital camera.There are still patches of snow near the snow fences and ice is just breaking up along the shore.When the wind comes up and it is always windy in Rankin, it can be very bitter and one night after walking the dogs   thought I would never get warm again...almost like stepping back 6 weeks to earlier spring before the budding of the leaves and pussy willows in Edmonton.But it is definitely spring with water running in ditches, arrival of the birds with their songs and mating calls...swear I heard a robin outside by window the other morning, the Canada geese are flying in their Vs north, small brown and white pairs spring up when walking in the marshes trying to distract from their nests  and on one of the local small lakes, we saw probably at least 30  white majestic swans, 3 eider duck pairs with their red fronts and a few other duck pairs...I wish I could have got closer.
Small splashes of color are starting to appear with

the first tiny purple saxifrage flowers in the rock crevices their fringed petals capturing the warm air often beneath the snow

and the budding ( males shown here with yellow stamens ) willows ( salix) or "okpeet" in Inuktitut, the low creeping bush of the northern tundra....  apparently over 40 varieties in NWT according to Page Burt's Barrenland Beauties.

Although the sun officially sets for about 4 hours from 11 PM to 3 AM...we are below the Arctic Circle.... it never really gets dark and one has to darken the bedroom to sleep.