owls, skidoos & arctic char

Last night Amy took me out to experience a bit of nightlife at the Storehouse - the local bar.  It is a very nice.  The interior was well done and had a great selection of stuffed trophies and skins on the walls.  We really enjoyed their sweet potato fries.  Amy and I went with Julie and met up with three other ladies that work with Amy and Julie.  One lady that was there was name Vivian and she was a firecracker.  Seriously, she was like meeting the character Evelyn Harper from the tv show Everwood.  This woman has been a nurse all over the northern most parts of Canada and now as a grandmother she continues to fly up to remote communities.  The store house is also great because it is basically an arts market on the weekends.  Local stone carvers and craftspeople bring pieces down to sell to patrons.  Each one will come in a ciruclate to all the tables displaying their wares in the hands.  If you look interested they bring it over for you to examine.  We saw so many great carvings throughout the night.  

When this "owl" came to our table I knew he had to go home with me.  It was love at first sight.  But seriously, who could resist a precarious expression like that.

It was such a fun night out on the town.

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This afternoon brought more fun.  Marcus and Lily took me skidooing.  Which is snowmobiling but everyone just calls them skidoos - like Kleenex or Duct Tape.

We bundled up like marshmallows.  I have on my regular clothes, a wool sweater, a jacket, a puffy vest, snow pants, two pairs of wool socks, a fur-line hat, a face cover, gloves, boots, fur gloves and the hood pulled up tight.

Town and the edge of town.  All the lines in the snow are from other skidoos.  We also past a few dogsled teams, people out walking, and cross country skiers. 

 

We are out in the middle of the bay.

 

Houses on the edge of town.  I just love the undjulating lines of houses.  They always look so small and cute.  I think that is because there are no trees from which to gauge their size.

I love the mountain/hills in the distance.  What a view.

This is the sea ice from the other side...where tide isn't visible and the water calms.

The sea ice formations are so big...some are well over ten feet tall.  It is so weird to just be riding along and suddenly there is this slab of ice sticking out.

 

This just made me feel so small and in such awe.  It is so beautiful.

 

We took a rest in Tarr Inlet.  In the summer this will all be marsh and would take two days of hiking to reach.  Basically it is only accessible in the winter.  Who knew winter could be so extraordinary?

 

Those silver lines about center photograph are the trunk to a tree.  It only grows like six inches off the ground.  In the summer this whole are will be covered in vegetation.

 During our rest stop we had hot chocolate and tea.  Adding that to my never have I ever...had a tea party on top of a hill that I snowmobiled across a frozen bay to get to.

Lily had marshmallows in her chocolat chaud with a side of cheese and crackers.  It was tea and cracker for me.

 

The figure on the hill is Marcus at our tea party site and the two fly-dots in the distance are other people on their skidoos.

 

Lily and I went in search for an excellent hill to go sliding down.

We sure did find one.

After a few good slides we headed back home.  When we got there a most excellent dinner was being prepared.

This is an Arctic Char.  Last summer a man was selling them door to door at Amy's office.  He had just caught it in the bay and had gutted it and everything.  She put it on ice for just this occasion. I know that sounds a little fishy but it is normal.

 

It was beautiful and delicious.  

 

I know you really wanted to see the insides of a fish so I thought I would share.  It was so beautiful.

We were also lucky enough to have dinner guests.  A classmate of Lily's and her mother ate with us.  The mother is Franco-phone and from Quebec.  She has lived in some pretty interesting places and just moved up to Iqaluit this past January.  Her daughter speaks only French and even though mostly English was spoken throughout the evening it was still a bit of a French immersion.  With the delicious apple pie, Earl Grey tea, and the great conversation I felt like I was back at the Cafe des Artists having my evening meal.