Frolics

The spring festival 'Frolics' is finally here! We are participating in the corporate challenge during the festival and the office is all excited to defend their win from last year. For the last week many of the staff have been preparing the costumes that we will wear in the parade!

The first few corporate challenge games were quite fun- relay races, tug of war and even spinning around a bat and running a short race. This last game proved to be quite difficult and many of the participants didn't stay on their feet very long. One unlucky member of our team even managed to end up with a concussion from a brutal fall on the ice!  Games are that much tougher on ICE!

Randall helping out during the tug of war

The dizzy baseball bat run- collision barely averted 

Kids playing tarditional games at Frolics

There were a number of events organized during the festival including a fashion show of traditional Inuit clothing.  There were a number of gorgeous parkas- even for infants!  In the evenings there were snowmobile races out on the frozen bay.  Randall got some great photos of the snowmobiles taking off at the beginning of the races. 

Colleague taking part in the Frolics Fashion Show 

Adorable traditional fashion

Snowmobile race

Next came the Frolics parade and all of us were able to participate in the parade!  Randall served as one of the cards in our deck of cards costume and Nicolas was part of the daycare parade float.  We were walking behind the car that lead our float and with the spring weather the snow and ice are melting and freezing creating a slippery walk and where the snow has started to melt and mix with the gravel road created a muddy mess.  We were having to run to catch up to the truck and we did a good jog around the community running behind our float..lol.  Nicolas really seemed to enjoy his ride on the daycare float and even waved to people as the float went through the community.

Our float- deck of cards

Randall as the ace of hearts 

Nicolas on the daycare float

Spring is in the air..

The temperature is warming up and we are now enjoying spending more time outside sledding and playing in the snow- mostly Nicolas!  His favourite game is now 'Arctic Soccer' where there are little snow soccer balls everywhere he looks!  Another fun afternoon activity is walking out onto the frozen bay and watching the snowmobiles travel along the bay.

Nicolas sledding on the Bay

Our experiences in the Arctic have been captured in articles in La Nacion- Revista Dominical and Soho  magazine. Which emphasize the difference in living in an environment like the Arctic compared to the tropics of Costa Rica. The article in Soho magazine was particularly interesting as it depicted the experiences of two Costa Ricans in the poles (Arctic and Antarctic). 

Soho Magazine Article 

La Nacion Article

The true sign that spring is here and that we are coming out of the brutal winter cold… the dogs are sunbathing!!  Can't wait until the spring festival 'Frolics' begins in a few weeks.

Enjoying the spring weather

The Amazing Aurora Borealis

This past week the temperature has warmed up (-20C) and with this the skies are clearer at night as there isn't any snow falling. We have been treated to an amazing light show, right from our front porch! It makes me laugh to think about all the times I jumped into the car and drove into the fields north of Calgary whenever the aurora report indicated they could be seen that far south.

I had become a bit discouraged after the first few months in Cambridge Bay without seeing any northern lights, but it seems as though it was just the extreme cold that had ice crystals in the air or blowing snow that prevented the lights from being seen.

It is typically when we are out walking Tetue at night that we see the lights and the intensity of the lights fade in and out for hours. With the warmer weather we can just stand outside on our porch and watch the lights as they amazingly create patterns in the sky. It is really hard to explain what it is like to view the lights as they really are magical. We tried to capture some photos of the lights and their incredible beauty.

Journey to the Igloo

One of the things that has always fascinated us about Inuit culture is the igloo and how it so beautifully fits together. We discovered that a few people had made an igloo out on the frozen bay and we were excited to go and visit it. We decided to head out one weekend to go and find the igloo (with basic directions- i.e., it's right out on the bay and you'll see it). This will be important for later on in the story. 

We put together Nicolas' wooden sled and the wind cover that fits over top of it (not an easy feat)! Stuffed Nicolas into his Canada Goose snowsuit and head out onto the bay. We didn't even get more than a few metres out onto the bay before Nicolas began protesting. We were pretty sure he wasn't cold as he was bundled up pretty well and so it was likely he just wasn't happy being confined to his sled. We continue on our trek over the frozen water and Nicolas continues to cry and cry and cry. 

Walking over the snow that has been blown into uneven mounds by the strong winds makes walking a bit difficult, so we focus on moving forward. Then suddenly there are no more cries, Nicolas is quiet. My first thought is that the movement of the sled over the snow mounds has lulled him to sleep. Randall moves the sled slightly to see if Nicolas stirs. Nothing. Randall gives me a worried glance and then he shakes the sled harder. Still nothing. Now I am becoming concerned. Oh my goodness is Nicolas alright- is it too cold out here for him. Panic sets in and we rip the cover off the sled to check on him and the opening of the sled startles Nicolas up from his nap and we breathe a sigh of relief and laugh at ourselves.

 

Randall and Nicolas on the Frozen Bay

We set off once again towards the igloo (or where I think the igloo is located) and it is at this point that we see the wind picking up the loose snow and blowing it around more. This decreases the visibility considerably and so we can only see about a kilometre in the distance. With this strong wind the local kite skiers are out on the bay enjoying the wind. 

Glenn kite skiing on the bay

We come up to the hill across from the shore where I believe the igloo is located (I'm just not sure exactly how far and in which direction to go along this hill). We have now been out on the bay for a good 40 minutes in -40C weather and we try climbing the hill to get a better view to see in which direction to go to reach the igloo. Nothing. We can't see anything anywhere. We decide we will have to pack it in and head back since we don't know which exact direction to head in and we don't want Nicolas out in this weather too long. So, we sadly we head back home without having found the igloo.

However, being as stubborn as I am, I decided we would head out again the next week but this time without Nicolas. Easier to stay out longer and move faster when we don't have to tow a crying 2-year old in a sled. The day is clear and sunny- gorgeous! We head towards the bay and from the street along the shore we see the igloo!! Unbelievable- that hour-long trek onto the bay and we couldn't see anything and here we are staring at the igloo and realizing we had just been 10 metres from the igloo the previous weekend and just couldn't see it because of the blowing snow! Crazy.

We get out to the igloo and it is as incredible as we had imagined it would be. The igloo even has a window made out of frozen water! Amazing. Below are a few photos of us having fun at the igloo. It was definitely worth the journey to get to the igloo!!

Igloo in Cambridge Bay

 Randall in front of the igloo door- close fit!

Hanging out in the igloo

Randall in front of the igloo window

 Igloo snow bricks

Randall in front of the igloo

Cold!!!

The last few weeks have been extremely cold and I have not ventured out much other than to go to work and the store.  When I say cold I mean it has been ridiculously cold in the range of -50C with the windchill. The wind is actually so strong that it can actually throw grown men around!! The wind picks up the fine snow that floats across the land and creates whiteout conditions as it blows the snow so much that doors are suddenly covered with snow drifts and people need to be dug out of their houses! The other day we had almost blizzard-like conditions where you couldn't even see down the road because of the amount of snow being blown around.

Another problem that one encounters with strong winds and cold temperatures is that EVERYTHING freezes insanely quickly. On a two minute walk from my house to the store I was walking into the wind and was facing the direction of the sun which was blinding me and so my eyes started to tear up and by the time I had reached the store about a minute later there was a piece of ICE that had formed on my upper eyelid!!!!  This is worse than when you get ice on your eyelashes as it doesn't really irritate your eye, but ice on your eyelid directly rubs on your eye and feels EXTREMELY strange!! Thankfully the piece of ice wasn't very big and it quickly melted once I got inside.

Ice frozen on my upper eyelid

Even the outside of the house is suffering from the cold temperatures and my chimney is freezing over and I have lovely icicles building all around the chimney and roof of the house. Thankfully the ice hasn't covered over the entire chimney so I am still fine and have heat. 

Icicles covering our house and chimney

This week a number of people whose houses are on the outskirts of the community have been dealing with frozen water pipes as the wind and cold get in under the houses (all houses are built on 'stilts' as they can't sit directly on the ground as they would melt the permafrost and the ground would become unstable) and the pipes can't withstand the cold and freeze. No running water or use of toilets in the dead of winter is not fun!! I am very happy that our house has both a skirt (cover over the bottom of the house to prevent most of the wind from getting in under the house) and is also in the middle of the community so we don't get the brunt of the wind hitting our home directly.  

House on stilts with no skirt covering the bottom of the house

Brain Freeze

So I've had my first 'wind brain freeze'! As I'm sure most people have experienced, when you drink an icy cold drink too quickly you get a sudden 'brain freeze'. Well, this is the exact same feeling but from simply walking in the wind. You're walking along and the wind hitting your forehead causes a sudden painful 'brain freeze'! Now I guess this is what would be expected when the temperature outside is -39C and with the wind it feels like -54C!!! The arctic wind brain freeze..lol.

My colleague from work all bundled up on her way home for lunch

I had another first today, as well. I get into the office and start to warm up and then I receive a phone call. It is my colleague from work and she is trapped inside her house! Very similar to the phrase 'I've fallen and I can't get up.." well this is the arctic "I'm stuck and I can't get out.."!! So I reassure her and tell her I'm on my way and start to run through some of the possibilities of why her door might be blocked (e.g., snow blown up against the door, ice in the doorframe, lock frozen, etc) and I start collecting shovel, ice scraper, lock deicer to see which item will do the trick. I get to her house and I can see her from the window trying to push the door open from the inside with no luck. The door doesn't have snow blown up against it keeping it from opening, so must be frozen shut. Yes- doors here can FREEZE shut so that you're unable to open them! Apparently a hair dryer serves the double purpose of thawing your door frame so you can get out of your house!! Good thing I finally decided to invest in a hair dryer after 30 years (figured natural hair drying wasn't such a good thing in the frozen arctic..lol). So, knowing that the door was likely frozen shut the only option was to try and push it in from outside and I proceed to throw myself against the door and with a sudden bang, the door jerks open and I see a very greatful colleague. The doorframe was covered in ice and the door had simply frozen over. To the point that we were unable to close the door again as there was too much ice in the doorframe, so we had to leave her house with the door slightly ajar!  Randall became quite the master at manually 'de-icing' the doorframe with his 'ice machete' (i.e., a long flat kitchen knife) when we were having problems with the door freezing over. 

Ice that built up in the doorframe overnight

Randall chipping away the ice in the doorframe

Home Sweet Home

Seeing as Google came into the community last year with a special bicycle to capture the street view in Cambridge Bay, I have been able to find a picture of our house here to show everyone.

As you can see it is a one-level home and the bottom of the house has a skirt covering the "stilts" the house sits on as houses here are not built directly on the land as the heat from the house would melt the permafrost.  You can also see the bay behind the house as we have a quick walk to the shore (hopefully this will be nice in summer). Right now we see people that drive their snowmobiles & cars out onto the frozen bay to go ice fishing or even the occasional kite skier (will post photo shortly). Still waiting to see those elusive northern lights over the bay!