Things are not as they seem...

click any pictues for a larger version...

Distance is a total pain to perceive here. Take the picture below for instance. I've marked some places on it to give you an idea of what I'm talking about and how things kind of, run together, for lack of a better way to put it. The yellow arrows toward the bottom mark a nice little ridge of a hill, about 45 feet from where I'm standing with the camera. The kicker is over that little ridge is a slope that goes straight down a hill that runs about a 60 degree angle. After getting all the way up there I really wished I had a sled with me. Next, the green circle with the X is a nice flat spot between me and the next hill that had some nice compact snowmobile tracks that made the trek into town easier than the trek to the hill I'm on (I went the hard way, I couldn't see the trail until I was where I took the picture from.) That green X is actually almost a mile from where I am, you see, I had to hang a left at that invisible ridge to swing down into that little valley at a less dangerous descending point but even still, it's almost impossible to tell without something next to it for scale. That little valley is also probably 200 feet lower as well. The blue circle is a school on the way out to Apex next the arctic games complex. And just to the left of the red X is where I took the other picture when I was on my way back. The red X is roughly over where our house over the lake(pond) is. The smudges next to it are actually large apartment style homes just up the street from us. And of course, just to screw with the way distance is percieved here even worse is the land on the other side of Frobisher bay just under the horizon.

This here (below) is a rough map route of my hike today. Seeing this terrain map from the summer I'm a little surprised at some of the terrain, it's much different going over snow. The red star is the house, the green X is the same valley marked above (I think) the yellow arrow is roughly where I took the picture from and the yellow X is where I wanted to get to but the snow was too deep on the back side of the hills I was having to go up. Before going out like this again I will be coming up with a way to gauge the depth of the snow around me and taking snow shoes. Feeling and hearing a 4 or 5 meter chunk of snow over snow lurch under you in one large piece is unnerving. I was doing well and then I was quickly up to my knees with what felt like a ways to go still. I backtracked quickly and decided since I had a ways back into town and my pack was starting to feel pretty heavy that following the valley and the snowmobile tracks back in was wise. The blue circle is where the school is I mentioned above. And the green arrow is where I was taking the pictures of the sea ice from last week (just a little reference for anyone who has been reading these).

Shortly after taking this picture an older fella zipped by me on a snowmobile going out the way I came back in from.  He was just grinning at me probably for being idiot enough to be hiking out there.

I already knew this, but you can not walk everywhere a snowmobile can ride. That doesn't mean I haven't given it a shot a few times. I can't wait for summer, there won't be much to stop me from getting to many beautiful places.

More to come... the Toonik Time festival starts next week I think. There should lots of interesting things to go to, lots of Inuit culture to experience.

And now... less hair

Before:

After:

I miss it. So far I'm not missing dealing with it as much, but I do miss it. It was part of me. It represented something to me, and literally and figuratively it grew on me. On a weirder note, it framed my face well and complemented my personality and for whatever it is, my style. But I think it was time(this time). I learned something though. Patience. It doesn't really seem like something you might learn patience from, or at least not as a guy, but I did. I had to have patience physically, and restrain myself from lopping it off. I had to have patience with Mel and all my family who kept asking silly questions like, "Why?" all the time.

Anyway, so on with life.

This week in picures.

This week I took some pictures. Got a few good ones. Check 'em out.

This was taken from on top of the lake in front of the house. I haven't figured out the best settings for northern lights yet, but these weren't very bright, either. Still awesome. They change so fast sometimes.

This is the sea ice on the edge of Frobisher Bay south of Iqaluit. I hiked down there thinking to myself how hard it was going to be to hike back up. Being wary of deep drifts and unpacked snow that you can fall through always has to be on your mind. It doesn't snow so much as the wind drifts the snow on the ground further south. You can see the packed snowmobile trail I was following, to a point that is...

I looked down at my side as I got closer to the sea ice and saw this rift growing between the very thick drift I was walking on and where I wanted to go. Since I could only see about 4 feet down the rift and I knew I wasn't dressed warm enough to be out for more than a few hours if I wasn't moving I thought it best to not go any further here so as not to get stuck somehow. I probably would have been able to cross easily but the depth of the drift unnerved me a little.

So I headed back up the very steep hill I waddled down on the way to the "beach" and I have decided that I won't make a daily habit of half mile uphill trecks at 45 degree angles. In loose snow. Once I was nearly back to the road back in to town I saw something I didn't see last week when Mel and I were out this way. Some kids erected a little inukshuk on a hill looking over the bay. Only about 20 inches tall but pretty cool.

I finally found something to get a little artsy with, and I finally figured out how to change the aperture so my pictures weren't washing out so badly. 

Tada! Enjoy the views. Click on the pictures for a bigger one!

First northern lights pic...

Not a phenomenal picture, but its the first time I've seen them, and I managed to take a picture even with a poor setting on the camera, you can kinda see it. They weren't super bright, but this was only about 8 o'clock. They're supposed to be much brighter later at night. COOL! This has been worth the cold.

A post for posting sake...

I feel lazy lately. Problem is, I am having to negotiate the tricky terrain of obtaining a legal work permit while in the country. Negotiating this terrain involves me not actively or too openly pursuing employment here. Part of that problem includes certain requirements the beauro-cats have for hiring employers to meet in order to hire foreign workers. And even then, its a waiting game. I've had a freakin standing job offer from the same, very patient I might add, company that made me a phenomenal offer last October. But, because the of the beauro-cats compliance rules for advertising prior to offering to foreign workers are tricky. I wait. So both this company, and I, get to wait. Do we ever wait. I am impressed with their diligent patience with me. They clearly need somebody to do what I do, they just have to see if any crazy cannuckle-head somewhere else wants the job first. burr... till then I wait in the cold.

It's Sunday... but, who cares?

Went to church this morning, and met some nice folks. I will probably visit some other churches(2 out of 3 left to visit). I have no judgement per say, I just have to say I'm not settled with much of anything here. Including church. Nice people, good people where I went today.

My new roommate, Toby...

This is my new roommate Toby. Toby is my name for him, not his owners. I'm weird about naming things. Fortunately he's nothing but a rug these days because this guy, some 20 years ago, was quite the fighter (check out some of his scars), and I've seen his real skull and this dude had broken and cracked teeth from God knows what was big enough to fight back before he ate it. I've had this picture for a few days and wanted to post about him first before I posted about me. I truly dig this bearskin, it's awesome. Now, for my plight. Life isn't so bad, and the system here isn't going to shaft me or anything. Mel just needs a job and we need to fill out a few of the right forms and we're good to go(we've been here less than a week, we're doing well). I'll be looking for specific jobs, that have been unfilled for some time, meaning I'll be doing something at some point no one wants to/or can do(that way it's legal for a foreigner to apply for). Find a niche and fill it type things. Again, sarcasma-yay, but at least if that means as long as I find that specific job I can legally obtain a work permit for, I'm good to go. That's better news than immigration initially gave me at the border. And of course, things are different here. This really is a frontier town, edge of civilization and society. No joke. Its got to be something like Wyoming was 100 years ago. It even has the tension between native society and western culture. They all struggle with western work dichotmies, and we struggle with ancient hunter/gatherer culture. We want to work 9 to 5 for a salary and then do our thing, they work at things seasonally depending on what they need, and their time is always their own. I envy that, a lot. I've always wanted to own my time. Anyway, on to lunch...