What the ****?

One of my co-workers has taken the photos below and we all have a question. What is this cage for and why has it been done? Moe from the office has come up with two hypothesis on why this has been done. One idea is it is a fox trap but the hole is to big and the fox could just jump out once it is done feeding. The other idea is it is to attract polar bears. The polar bear would be slowed (not stopped) by the cage and it would give the hunter enough time to shoot the bear. Moe also says the seal inside the cage is probably in good shape because it is frozen. Although in the current heat we are getting it won't stay frozen for long. A bit later I was thinking it could be a cruel joke or maybe a way to protect the meat from dogs but this cage is located in a fairly remote area about 2km from town. If anyone has any ideas why the elaborate set up please leave a comment. Curious minds have to know! Thanks.

Pretty Flowers

Snapped a few pictures of some flowers when we were out hiking. These are hard to photograph because they are so small. The largest is the size of a nickle and the smallest is the size of pencil erasers. Makes it challenging to get a good picture. Thank you Photoshop. Enjoy.

The Ice Part II - Ice Forest

Part two of the ice. I am much happier with the photos from this trip. Enjoy.

In hindsight it probably wasn't a good idea to be under these chunks of ice. Pieces were constantly falling of them and, as you can see from the photo below, constantly melting.

It's slippery on top of them.
When the tide comes back in this forest of ice will be completely rearranged.
There is just a slight greenish tinge to this iceberg.

Don't know if I would leave my boat out with the icebergs.

The water is very clear. I think this is a crayfish. Correct me if I'm wrong.

In this photo you can see that when this iceberg is floating only the top portion is sticking out of the water.

High Five

The Ice Part 1 - RC Valley

Friday night we were out by the RC Valley and snapped a couple of pictures of the ice. I am hoping to get out again this weekend to take some more. I was playing with the settings on my camera and it didn't turn out like I had hoped. Most of the pictures I had taken were not usable. :o( . So in Part II I will have better pictures--promise. Enjoy what I did get below.

As the tide was coming in the icebergs were moving around and shifting so there was a lot of banging and cracking. I even got to see a piece fall off one of the burgs. Amazing that it's the end of June and we are watching and walking among huge chunks of ice. It was a good day.

I've modified the picture below. See if you can find the mistake I made. It's hard to find but it is there. Hint - Reflections

The Family Car

The picture speaks for itself. :o)

Happy Birthday Jen

There was a surprise birthday party for Jen Friday afternoon and Michele and I were invited to attend and bring some food. Jen of Nunavut has turned the quarter century mark. Click on the link and go wish her a happy birthday. I had left my camera at work and didn't have enough time get it so no pictures from the party. How embarrassing. Later that night we were down on the shore watching the ice and I took the picture below. This will have to do. Happy birthday Jen.

Corrections Course Grad

Our daughter Rachelle has graduated from the corrections course in Yellowknife this past Monday and she starts June 24 at the corrections center in Yellowknife. We are very proud of her. It sure makes a parent happy, proud and relieved when your child is successful. Way to go Rachelle.

I will post more pictures when she gets her uniform.

Here she is with the other graduates.

Mosquito

It's starting. I noticed this little one on the outside of our living room window. I don't need to say anymore. *sigh*

Mittens

Qallunaat: That’s a beautiful dog you have there. What’s its name?

Inuk: Mittens.

Qallunaat: Why did you name the dog Mittens?

Inuk: I name all my dogs Mittens.

A recent blog post by Living in Cape Dorset shows a Newfoundland dog skinned and stretched for drying. Typically the pelt will be used to trim gloves, mittens and boots. Nothing goes to waste here in the north. I don’t know where I heard the joke above or maybe it just came to me but I found it to be appropriate to the Living in Cape Dorset blog. Qallunaat means white person and is pronounced ha-lun-a. A direct translation would mean big belly bushy eyebrow. That’s a bit of a joke in it’s self.

See Ya Later Ice

I had to take some garbage to the dump and as usual my camera went with me. The ice is starting to break up and move out of Tellik Inlet. I was told today that the pack ice has moved back in and has blocked access to the open water for a couple of kilometers. He was telling me that every so many years this happens and it could be until August before it moves out and allows access to the open water.

I know I used the line "...every so many years..." but the Inuit have no way to describe exact time in their language and it makes it hard for them to describe the passage of time in English. I had thought the so many years meant approximately once every five years or so but then he mentioned "when he was young" so we could be talking decades. I am thankful that they will tell me in English because my grasp of Inukitut is embarrassing.

The photo below is of the land bridge to Mallik Island. You can see in the close up in the second photo that the ice has broken up and is starting to flow out of the inlet. Of course it will not get far since the pack ice will stop it.



I am not as brave as these folks on the Ice. The open water is between the hamlet and the ice they are on. In the photo there is a snowmobile and kamatik to the left and a canoe to the right of center.

Squirrels & Birds

I always try to keep the posts related to life in the north but my Brother in New Brunswick sent me the picture below and I had to add it here. He has been wondering why there are no birds taking residence up in his birdhouse even with the food just below it. So the other day he stood guard and the little friend below popped out. I wonder if my brother is taking the birdhouse to Ottawa when he moves?

Jordin Tootoo

We had the opportunity to meet Jordin Tootoo of the Nashville Predators last night and had a wonderful evening. Jordon is in town overnight as a representative for Norterra Inc. Norterra Inc. is a Canadian Management and holding company which includes Canadian North airline. The company is also 100% aboriginal-owned. After meeting the community he was over at friends of ours who's children he had grown up with. We were invited over and had our picture taken and got an autograph. Got to chat with him for a couple of hours and found him to be a good kid and very funny. He has a couple of big knuckles that I would hate to see up close. He has also just signed on with the Predators for another two years. Hope we get to meet up again in the future.

-UPDATE- My wife is not holding hands with Toot, it is just a trick of the camera.

Plane Landing

I finally got a picture of a plane flying over the Hamlet to land on the runway. Hope nothing ever happens :o). Those who have kept up with our blog will know that flying in the north can be very interesting and challanging at times.

Garbage Rant

I have seen something today that has finally sent me off on a rant. In the picture to the right you will notice that there is now a rubber net across the back of the garbage truck. I think I will complain to someone in the Hamlet of Cape Dorset because how am I going to be able to find the garbage truck now? Before the upgrade the truck could be easily located by following all the spilled garbage that had fallen out of the truck and now I will have to drive around for several minutes to find it. I don’t appreciate the inconvenience that this has caused. Not only is the truck now harder to find but the skills gained by dodging the bags and boxes of trash that speckled the road is eliminated. These skills kept me in top form for when I was driving in the south avoiding cars and pedestrians. I am not amused.

If anyone from Cape Dorset would like to join me in a protest at the hamlet office let me know and we can set a date and time for this to occur.

Waterfall Hike

Tonight we hiked to the waterfall since the weather is so nice. We did cheat a little and drove to the other side of Dead Dog Lake but we did get some exercise on the hike the rest of the way. Enjoy the photos of the hike below.

This is a small cascade of water on the way to the big falls.

This hole in a rock just mesmerized me. Simple things for .....

Finally we came around the corner to get our first look of the waterfall this year. Just as entrancing as we remembered. Still a lot of snow to the right of the falls but in another month it should be melted.

The happy family waving hi to all of you but to Mom especially. I was the only one smart enough to wear rubber boots and I was the only one that got wet feet. I had tried to climb up the snow to get to the top of the waterfall. Michele was video taping and caught me on tape as I started the ill fated climb. When we watched it tonight you could hear Michele saying "Now what is my husband up to." just before I went through the snow. This was followed by a lot of laughing as I tried to dig myself out of waist deep snow with water running underneath it.

I wonder how many years it has taken the water to wear the channel in the granite. Amazing.

I got fairly close to the waterfall.
We were here.

Junior Nation

Michele and I are fanatical Nascar race fans and have always been fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Well today the 76 race drought has ended with a Nascar race win in Michigan. With the win Junior (Junebug) is now 21 points behind Jeff Burton for second in the points.

Yaaaaaaaa. 88 in '08.

Gemstones

On our trip to the park I found some garnet deposits. I believe they are the common almandine garnet's but a professional would have to confirm that. Last year a friend of mine took me to a spot were the rock was full of the garnets within the municipal boundaries. Spent most of a Saturday afternoon picking at the rock to get some of them out. I still have a cup full of them on the refrigerator. These types of garnet are fairly common in the world as far as gemstones go so their value is reflective of that. It's still a lot of fun to discover a deposit and if you have nothing better to do, go and hammer on the rock for a few hours and take home some souvenirs. The arrows in the picture below show the deposits of the garnets that have been exposed by the tides and weather. They really stick out if you know what to look for.

Trip to the Park

Michele, Dad and I made it back out to the park to explore. We had hoped to see some whales or seals but the only wildlife were the birds. Some pictures of the trip are below.

This little girl was having fun on some off the play equipment. She became quite the poser when she noticed the camera. She is wearing good Nunavut June clothing - Parka and rubber boots.

A view of the ice.


Canadian geese flying in formation that were way out at the flow edge. The wind was really strong all day so the pack ice has been blown out into the Davis Straight. You can just see it on the horizon.

Tourist!!
Dad and Michele trying to see if there are any whales. Dad is trying to take a picture off me instead off all the scenery around the Park. Can't blame him for his good taste I guess.

I think I won the camera war.

This picture is water laying on top of the ice that has accumulated from melting and runoff from the land. The water will absorb more heat than the ice speeding up how fast the ice melts.

A charter plane leaving the airport caring the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education. They were in town for the graduation of the current senior class.

That's my cutey.

The flowers are starting to come out for the summer.

I had heard that my boss (Timoon) was setting up a tent out by the tank farm so we headed over there to introduce him to my dad but he had already left when we got there. It was after 11:00 pm. Nice spot to set up camp.

Just before we left a fellow went by on a snowmobile. I don't know if I would be brave enough to go out on the ice with this much water on top.