Saturday - High of 5C, hello SNOW. Not in town, but it was the talk of the town. Snow on the mountains, clearly visible from every window in town, and nobody was thrilled at the sight, as pretty as it may have been. It wasn't a welcome sight and I was glad to see it melted by the next morning. Phew, that was a close call.
Sunday - High of 4C, nice sunny day. We took the quads to the river where there was a feast going on. It was a great day to be on the bikes. It was a little chilly on the ride back, but well worth it.
Monday - it's Monday - does it really matter what the weather is like? Monday is just a universal day to dislike. The only good part about Monday is that it's Bachelor Pad finale night, but even that turned out bad because they changed the name of the 1st part of the show so I almost missed it entirely. For what it's worth, the high was 10C.............back to Bachelor Pad, I felt so bad for poor Michael. I'm voting for him to be the next Bachelor. Out with Ben, in with Mike.
Tuesday - high of 16C. Hello wind. It was gusty. Our walk to the end of town was a long one. I'll just call it extra resistance training. I was surprised to see it was 16, I never would have guessed that. It was warm, but 16? Not so sure on that one, 16 is almost beach weather.
Wednesday - high of 10C, beautiful morning. Sunny, calm, just one of those days where you can't wait to get out. We went out for our daily walk dressed in our fall attire, cute sweaters and rain boots, and then out of nowhere the fog literally surrounded us. For the rest of the day we were fogged in. You could see the street lights in town, but no town or water, just fog and lights.
Thursday - blah. It was grey, cloudy and looked like it was about to rain at any moment all day long.
Friday - Looks like it is going to a repeat of today. Too bad we didn't have a repeat of 16 degrees minus the wind. I'd love to have that to repeat.
The moon was amazing this week
It's crazy to think that no matter where you are, you were looking at the same moon.
I mentioned earlier that on Sunday we headed out to the river on the quads. For the past three weekends we've headed out thinking, we better do it while we can. This trip was no different, what was different was what we found at the river. There was a huge feast going on. Community members were having a feast to welcome the teachers back to town. I have great pictures. For now you'll have use your imagination because they are stuck on the camera. The memory card was in the computer, not the camera. I'll set the scene for you.
So now that you can envision the scenery, you'll have to really use your imagination for the rest. We come up over the last hill where we know there is a McPherson tent set up. A McPherson tent is a sturdy white canvas tent that can be outfitted with a wood stove. So essentially it is a cabin, in tent form. As we come up over the hill we realize that there is a quite a gathering going on. There were likely 40 adults and 15 kids around. We stopped in to say hi, and were instantly offered caribou stew. N had taken off with kids who were picking berries. No need to worry about him getting out of our sight...as you can tell it is wide open space. No hiding places. There was a lady plucking a goose and there was a table set out complete with muktuk (beluga whale). I really wish I could get those photos, it really was a neat scene.
The tent is being used right now as a base location for a family out Arctic Char fishing. They'll be out there for the next 2 - 3 weeks, until the river freezes. They'll catch enough to sustain their family for the winter, and they'll store it in the community meat freezer.
Now you have to remember we are in bear country.
I took this at the dump a few weeks ago (yeah I like to hang out at the dump)
So this tent out in the middle of grizzly bear country - not exactly a place I'd feel comfortable sleeping. I'm sure I'd be awake all night just waiting for one to get me. The family staying in the tent have been doing this for many years so they are prepared - they have a gun if need be, but that is last resort of course. Their first line of defence is a pack of dogs they have surrounding their tent. Uh huh you read that right. So with this one tent they had 4 dogs tied around it, around 30' from the tent, one out from each side. There were 2 older, experienced dogs that they trusted to do their job well and train to the 2 younger ones. The lady explained to us that they let the older dogs closest to the bank off their chains first and they would run away from the tent to lead the bear away. The younger dogs are left tied up and cause a big ruckus and scare off any other bears that might be close by. You might be picturing big hairy beautiful husky dogs, I know that is what I pictured when I first came North. I thought sled dogs would look like they did in the movies. Not so much. They are smaller dogs, with short hair. I would have thought they were mutts if I didn't know better. The dogs are needed as the first alert sign at the tent, there is a Mom and cub in the area and one lone bear that is digging a hole in the bank to hibernate for the winter.
No thanks - I prefer to sleep without bears outside the tent, thank you.
They are a great family and they invited us out to visit them while they are there, so we'll head out again and bring the camera WITH the memory card.
The weather has definitely rounded that corner. You know that corner. The one where you wake up and see snow on the mountain tops, have to put a hat and mitts on every time you leave the house and start to wonder exactly how long you will continue to dress in three layers of coats before you dig out the parka. Once the parka comes out, it's officially winter. I'll hold off as long as possible, it's still a ways off, but it would be easier to put that jacket on than it is to peel of the sweatshirt, hoodie and fleece jacket. This is one of those times that easy will not win out....yet.
N and I were out for a walk, and I'm fairly certain he found the last dandelion in town.
Make a wish - mine may or may not have anything to do with being able to leave my parka hanging up for another month or so.
**we have the internet usuage figured out - I'm free to blog away again, oh happy day**
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