Our Friends and summer in Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park - 2014

I know we have mentioned Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park in previous blogs, however this summer it became our "summer cottage" where friends could gather and enjoy each others company. Wonderful about this park, is the ability to locate your spot, erect a tent and the area is yours free of charge. The staff at the park go out of their way to accommodate any requests, deliver wood, and maintenance of the park is second-to-none.

One evening at the squash club - sitting at what we have dubbed the "old folks table" - we discussed the prospect of enhancing our summer. We wanted to create an environment that we can all enjoy and share in the beauty of the north. For many in Iqaluit, pitching a tent and spending evenings and weekends at their "home away from home" is not uncommon. In fact, a common site are the white canvas tents that our group went together to purchase. The site selection was easy. For the past few years, Barb, Kate, Christine (x2), and Daniel claimed a site in the park. Larry and I went out a couple of times last summer and had the fortune of being asked if we would consider joining in on a tent purchase. Of course, Larry and I jumped at the idea. The park is a beautiful place, however there are times you want protection from the elements, in particular the mosquitos. So, Larry and I as well as Scott and Suzy were added to the "site group" and we purchased our tent.

 As you can see, it's a good tent. We (Daniel, Scott and Larry) built a floor from left over construction wood and pallets. We have a set of shelves, table and chairs and all the comforts needed to enjoy our time in the park.










 The wonderful part about our tent site is we always have folks coming out to enjoy in the fun. Pictured are Larry, Bonnie (Front) & Suzy.

The tent also comes with a "tickle trunk" in which we store musical instruments, games and who knows what else you may find by the end of the summer.

As you can imagine, washrooms are not exactly close by and unlike the "south" we don't have trees to hind behind. Yes, we do have rocks, but it just isn't the same. Well thanks to Barb, our site comes fully equipped. For those that don't want to squat behind the rock we offer campsite washroom facilities - toilet, protection from the wind and bugs and all...

Did we mention that we're right beside the river? Well, we're right beside the river. Our site is actually up on a hill and we can sit looking out over the river. Some of the nights have proven to be absolutely gorgeous. Of course, the sun doesn't set but never the less, late in summer you can catch some beautiful pictures.

Most importantly at the site is the camaraderie and friendship we all share. Larry and I have stated it several times, that the folk we have met up here are truly wonderful beings. Our "circle of friends" have been a blessing, and they know how to have fun. Often around the campfire comes out the guitars, spoons, drums and whatever other instruments have migrated out to the site. Its an afternoon and night full of fun. Sometimes I forget whether it's afternoon or night because, of course, it doesn't get dark. The pictures below are the "gang having fun."

L-R Nadine, Suzy and Lisa

L-R Lisa, Scott, and Larry

L-R Barb, Suzy, and Lisa

L-R Christine, Robin, and Barb

L-R Chris, Larry and Kate
missing is Daniel and Christine

A bonus of our site is Holly can come along and we don't have to worry about her; mind you she's getting to the age she doesn't venture very far. Holly loves coming out to the site and once she has done her tour, she settles in and just enjoys the evening. You've probably all said to yourselves - "they're wearing coats, toques, and gloves." yepper and we're okay with that.. !

Thanks to all our friends for a wonderful summer 2014...... awesome memories.....

In the hopes of exploring down under

Admittedly it has been a long while since Larry and I have made any posts to our blog. It seems that the art of being busy has taken over. But, at last we return to the blog and can provide a little update on our most recent adventure - training for an arctic dive.

As many can appreciate, the water up here is, to say the least, cool. It is currently mid-August and the temperature in the Bay is -2c at 40ft. A regular wetsuit isn't going to cut it if Larry and I are to check-off an Arctic dive. We must get our drysuit training. Back in April a notice was posted on Iqaluit Public Service notifications page on Facebook outlining there was a group that wanted to start a diving club. Larry and I were both exited, so we went to the meeting to find out their plan. The meeting went well and we expressed our interest in following through.

Photo credits to Ron Wassink

Quite a bit of time passed and we fast forward to August - the group is ready to start diving. Larry and I have been offered the drysuit certification course and we make arrangements to attend our first session. The group forming the diving club have gone to great lengths to construct and position a training platform in what is known as Upper Base Lake. Upper Base in a small confined lake with it's deepest depth between 20-30' - perfect for training and introduction to scuba events. The week leading up to our first session meant we had to be outfitted with drysuits. Our instructor was very supportive and met with us so that we may try on suits for size.


It's now August 9, 2014 and Larry and I are heading out to the lake for our drysuit orientation and skills check. Skill checks can include: buddy checklist, hand signals (communication signals, flooding/removal and clearing your mask, removing and replacing your regulator, buoyancy checks (fin pivot) and hovering checks. This is a small list but for every diver, skills that should be maintained and practiced often.

Preparing for a dive is important. You take your time readying your equipment and communicate with your buddies/group. This being our first experience with wearing a drysuit, we took a little longer getting ourselves ready. When all equipment is set-up, we have our pre-dive briefing and we have our drysuits on - it's now time to get in the water. What we weren't quite expecting is the entry. What we didn't notice was the "rock garden" we would have to navigate before getting to a depth where we could put on our BC's etc... Needless to say, we discovered a risk that Larry and I would not repeat as the risk of injury for us is assessed too high.

You can see in the above picture the rocks we were facing. We made our way to a depth that was good to put on our BC's, masks, fins and gloves.

It's now time to head out to the platform to do our check out and drysuit skill sets. This is when I realize, my drysuit is not as snug a fit as it should be, water is coming in at my neck-line. I new the drysuit was a little big (in the feet and lots of space), however I wasn't quite ready for the water. I made a conscious decision that I would not go on with the dive, but rather would return to shore.  Larry continued on with our Instructor and I'm happy to report that he had a very successful dive session. Although I cut my session short, Larry and I hope to continue in our pursuit of drysuit certification and look forward to checking off a Frobisher Bay (Arctic) dive.

Christmas Eve at the Journal's

This year Larry and I decided to open our home Christmas Eve to friends in Iqaluit. We hosted our first open house and by all accounts it was a success. For many friends and like ourselves travelling south doesn't happen every year for the holidays. Larry and I thought it would be nice to bring friends together and to share in some Christmas cheer.

Many of our friends dropped in to say hello. It is not unusual for folks in Iqaluit to organize Christmas dinners that leaves no one on their own. The true belief of giving and sharing is ever evident in Iqaluit.

Jacquie and I missed being with our family this Christmas.  Christmas is that special times of year when families come together.  And certainly Jacquie and I have wonderful families that we love being with at Christmas and any other time of year for that matter.  That being said, the fellowship at the open house on Christmas Eve, made it a little easier for Jacquie and I to be away from our family this Christmas.

At one point in the evening we counted 25 people.  Jacquie and I wanted to thank everyone that came over for helping make an exciting and memorable Christmas Eve.

Blizzard of January 2014

According to the internet a blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds of at least 56 km/h and lasting for three hours or more.  A severe blizzard has winds over 72 km/h with near zero visibility and temperatures of -12C or lower. 

On January 7th and 8th in Iqaluit there was a blizzard that blew the above definition away. (pun intended)

 It had sustained winds of 115km/h with gusts up to 141km/h and it went on for almost 24 hours.  

Jacquie and I were amazed at how much our apartment moved.  We live in a side by side one story 5 plex.  Our building was rocking and rolling much like being on a cruise ship.  It was moving so much that we were getting motion sickness.  

The other factor that we noticed was the loudness of the wind.  It roared like standing next to a freight train.  

One interesting event during what seemed like the peak of the storm, was taking the dog out to do her duty.  I got dressed up with snow pants, sweater, Canada Goose Parka, toque, balaclava, goggles, Baffin Boats and rabbit skinned mitts.  There wasn't any skin exposed anywhere.  Jacquie held the door and out we went.  I must admit, I had this vision of Holly flopping in the wind, like a lame kite, at the end of the lead.  The wind was coming from the east and there was some shelter from the wind near the building. She was very good and stayed close to the building.  Holly was quick and we got back inside quickly.  The experience however made us realize that we were not going to take Holly back out in that storm, even if it meant we needed to do a little floor clean up.

Although we weren't really concerned during the ordeal, it was a little disconcerting when the power went out.  It was off for about 8 hours although came on for 15 minutes or so 3 or 4 times during the 8 hours.  The temperature got down to about 14C in the apartment.  (the cuddling was fun)  One thing we realized is that we didn't have a match in the house for the 50 or so candles that we had on hand for just such an emergency.  

Considering how strong the wind was, there was relatively limited damage done by the storm.  The French School had its roof peeled back, a number of garbage bins were blown over including ours, number of signs were down, some homes had roof damage, a piece of plywood blew through a living room window, a few other windows were broken and a lot of loose cardboard and paper was blown around.  

The other interesting factor about this storm is there wasn't that much snow that fell, maybe a total of 5 cm, although there were some very large drifts in some places.  

Below is a video that was taken during the storm that depicts the strong wind and zero visibility.  All in all an event that Jacquie and I will remember for a very long time. 

SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre)

When Jacquie and I were in San Francisco we had the awesome opportunity to visit and get a tour of SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre).  Jacquie's Uncle Ewan was the former director and conducted the tour.  The centre had its 50th anniversary this year and is still important for the study of science.

SLAC's mission is to explore frontier questions of science.  The facility is used to uncover scientific mysteries from the workings of subatomic particles to the structure of matter

In 1962, construction began on what was the longest and straightest structure in the world.  The linear particle accelerator is 3 KM in length.  It would accelerate electrons to the speed of light for groundbreaking experiments in creating, identifying and studying subatomic particles.  Scientists working at the linear accelerator have been presented with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976 and 1995.  The linear accelerator has been instrumental in the study of genetic's, biology, space technology, chemistry and other scientific disciplines.  

Ewan explained to us how the linear accelerator is calibrated on a regular basis by a laser to ensure it remains straight and true.  

Further we toured the control room where the entire length of the accelerator is monitored and controlled and where many of the experiments are conducted.

Jacquie and I were awed by the information that was provided to us by Uncle Ewan and his contribution to the world of physics.  Ewan has been formally retired for over 10 years from the university however he has the distinction of being professor in emeritus with an office and remains on an international committee to design and build a new linear accelerator.  The committee is looking at Japan as a possible location.  The new accelerator will be 30 KM long and 300 Metres deep.  

Thanks Ewan for an amazing tour and thank you for your continued contribution as a renowned particle physicist.  :-)  :-) 

Celebrating Winter Solstice

On December 21st, Jacquie and I participated in an annual event that some of our friends have done for the past number of years.  That's celebrating winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  This year the celebration took place on the shores of the Sylvia Grinnell River at Pauline's cabin.

The temperature outside was -30C without the wind chill, although the wind was light.  So it was only natural that we lit a bonfire to keep warm.

At the bonfire there was John, Alex, Scott, Kate, Bonnie,  Carmen, Jacquie and I, as well as Rusty the dog.  We got there at 2:00 in the afternoon and the sun had already gone down.  The sun came up about 9:40 and went down about 1:20 on that day.  

We had some refreshments and trail mix.  One thing I learned is that if you drink beer from cans at -30C, your lips get stuck to the can and it hurts like heck when you rip the can off your lips.  

Oh look, Larry's best side! :-)

The real celebration took place shortly after 3:00PM when Bonnie brought out the sparklers.  We all lit sparklers and waved them around at the moon.  A fitting tribute to acknowledge the shortest day of the year!  

We stayed there for about an hour and a half, until some of us started to get cold feet, then we decided it was time to head back into town.  Thanks Bonnie for the invitation and thanks to everyone else there for a wonderful time and a great experience for Jacquie and my first celebration of Winter Solstice! :-) :-) :-)

Mandi's Pottery

Mandi’s Pottery

One of the interesting things that we discovered about Mandi Paterson, Jacquie’s aunt that lives near San Francisco is that she is a pottery enthusiast.  She has a number of lovely pieces in her home and Jacquie and I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the studio where Mandi produces her works of art. 

She goes there once or twice every week to tutor other students and make pottery.

She took us through the process of making Pottery.   Firstly there is the design and development stage.  “Having an idea of what you want to make is important, so when you get your clay on the wheel, you know how to work the mold”, she explains.  

Centering the clay on the wheel is also very important.  Once the pottery piece has been hand crafted on the wheel it is allowed to dry.

Once the piece has been sponged, excess clay removed and is completely dry, it is ready to be bisque fired.  Once the initial firing takes place any bumps or imperfections are removed.  Mandi explained that she uses sand paper for this process. 

The next step is to glaze the pottery piece and then place it back in the kiln for a final firing where it can stay for up to 24 hours.   Mandi explained that the temperature of the kiln is important and can change depending on the piece that’s being fired. 

To Jacquie and I the process of glazing and firing seemed a bit complicated, however making the piece on the pottery wheel looked like a lot of fun. 

Mandi is an expert and has made many wonderful pieces.  Thanks Mandi for the tour.  J