It's getting close to the end of winter in the North, although you'd never know it by the cold temperatures (still in the -20C range) and the snow on the ground.  We get lots of sun (about 15 hours a day), but not much warmth yet.

Fortunately, Spring means it's jamboree time in our local communities.  Last year I posted about the Muskrat Jamboree in Inuvik - it's hard to believe a whole year has passed and it has rolled around again.  This year I got to participate more, as the weather was slightly improved (by that I mean it was still cold but at least it was bright and sunny and the wind wasn't blowing snow and ice into your face the whole time!)

The funds raised during the 4-day event (April 5-8) were donated to the NWT Council for Disabilities.

Below are some photos I took of the skidoo races, dog-sled races, log-sawing contests, and "honey bag hockey" which I got roped into playing!  The other activities that I didn't get pictures of were the harpoon throw, plank walking, nail driving, egg tosses, jigging contests, tug of war, drum dancing, pancake breakfasts, talent show, and my favourite, the trapper skills contest - including boring a hole in the ice for fishing, building a fire on the ice (yes, it's possible!) and making tea and bannock - see last year's post for pictures of that.

As is the case across the rest of Canada (and parts of the U.S.), it is a COLD first day of "Spring" here.  Right now in Inuvik we are at minus 20 Celsius (minus 4F).  Although that is not much colder than usual, it feels like the snow will never disappear.  This long winter is starting to make people a bit... shall we say... touchy?  Over-sensitive?  Moody?  Cranky?  Bad tempered?

A colleague of mine warned me last year about "March madness", which has nothing to do with basketball. Around this time of year people start to go a little crazy and grumpy.  They are sick of the winter and get a bad case of cabin fever.  They want to go outside without fear of frostbite.

Unfortunately, I am no exception.  Although I am doing much better this week, the previous two weeks were rough.  Little things would bother me and I couldn't let them go.  I'm usually a positive person, but nothing would shake me out of my bad mood.  I did not enjoy my own company, and I'm sure no one else did either!  Luckily I have come back into happy territory without permanent damage or the need for meds.

On the bright side of March (and it is very bright!), the sun is shining and we know that warm weather will follow in due course.  Soon we will have more than enough sunshine.  In some future post I will discuss the effects of 24-hour darkness vs. 24-hour light ... some like the light, while others (including myself) actually prefer the dark of winter.  Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm sure you'll hear me out.

As I don't have any photos that really go well with this post, below are some pictures of a dog-sledding trip I took on Sunday (my third time!) because these beautiful Siberian huskies are guaranteed to get you in a good mood.

And a picture of the sun on the snow-covered trees in my backyard for good measure.

I was cleaning out my freezer the other day and discovered some Arctic char buried in there.  For those who don't know, char is apparently well-known (among those who know these things) for being a very tasty fish.  I am not a fan of fish (unless it's raw in sushi, or covered in batter and fried British style with thick chips), but I'm trying to eat healthier, so I force myself to cook it once in a while.

Below is a random picture from the internet of what fresh-caught char looks like.  This is actually the world record holder - they are large fish!

In an earlier post, I showed pictures of what it looks like frozen - one of our northern communities, Ulukhaktok, is famous for its char.

And this is what it looked like on my plate.  I decided to slather it with lemon-dill sauce, with sides of mini-potatoes and celery.  Healthy and delicious!

There aren't a lot of shopping opportunities in Inuvik, as we have no malls and very few stores, so it's easy to avoid the temptation to spend money.  However, our downfall is that there are so many amazing handicrafts to buy- mukluks, carvings, muskox wool scarves, fur mitts (rabbit, seal, wolf, beaver), you name it.   And because these items are unique, hand-crafted, and use very expensive materials, you have to be prepared to dish out $hundreds or $thousands for a one-of-a-kind item.  Sticker shock is just part of the experience!

Case in point -- my new moccasins (generally just called "slippers" by the Inuit).  After a year of looking for the perfect pair, I was thrilled to see these beauties below in our craft shop for the bargain price of $250 including tax.   The reason they are not in the $300+ range is because the bottoms are cowhide rather than moosehide.  But as I will only use them indoors at the office most of the time, I didn't mind that they weren't made of moosehide.

The slippers are made of sealskin, trimmed with Arctic hare, with embroidered uppers.  They were made by Martha Kudlak of Sachs Harbour, a community of about 100 people in an area even more remote than Inuvik!

Another one of the joys of living in the North...  How many offices have you visited with moose hide laid out for sale on the floor of the reception area?  Gotta love it!

I will be honest, though, the smell of the smoked hide was pretty pungent, so we weren't too sad to see them wrapped up again... after getting pictures of course.

A couple of weeks ago I went berry-picking with some friends in the hills just outside of Inuvik.  Although the blueberry season had passed, we were in perfect time for cranberries.  It was a warm clear Saturday in September, and there was no place we'd rather be!

I got a little nervous when we saw fresh bear prints, but the other girls had bear spray and bear banger, so we didn't let a wild animal deter us!  He didn't seem that big anyway...  :)

I got the berries home and washed them, and ended up with about 7 cups of berries, which I threw in the freezer for future use.

Jump forward to Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving weekend - Oct 6-8!), and I pulled a few cups of berries out of the freezer and made my very first home-made cranberry sauce by boiling the berries in orange juice and sugar.

Round it off with a turkey dinner with good friends, and overall it was a great first Thanksgiving in the North.

It's hard to believe just a few months ago we had 24-hour darkness.  Now our night lasts just 3 hours... the Arctic is a place of extremes!  Below is a chart of the last week's sunrise and sunset times, courtesy of the local weekly newspaper, the Inuvik Drum - http://www.nnsl.com/inuvik/inuvik.html. 

Although it takes a lot of getting used to, I am loving the long days.  Sitting on the patio enjoying a sunny BBQ until midnight ... going for an evening run in the cool brightness (temperatures are still around 5-10 degrees, although it will be getting warmer soon) ... walking to work with the sun already high overhead.  All this brightness certainly gives you extra energy. 

It is sometimes hard to settle down to sleep knowing the sun is still blazing outside, but thanks to good blackout curtains and some self-discipline, I'm able to get a full night's rest. 

My favorite part of this spring season is the bright blue sky.  I took the photos below around town about 3 weeks ago.  I will need to take some updated photos, as most of our snow has disappeared now, and in its place we have big puddles and mud from the spring melt!

Ravens, ever-present in Inuvik, are seen here taking a break from scavenging and strewing garbage around town.

(Warning - photos in this post will be disturbing to all readers) 

Once thing you need to get used to when working in the Arctic is that you never know what you may encounter around the office.  Several times in the last few months I have walked into our office kitchen and been greeted by giant frozen char (really big fish), dried reindeer, muktuk (whale skin and blubber), frozen muskox, and (my personal favorite), skinned muskrat!

Below is the most disturbing picture.  Skinned muskrats.  Yes... those are furry feet!  Sorry for the picture, but this is honestly what I saw in our office kitchen a couple of weeks ago!  Apparently muskrat meat is delicious.  I can't wait to try it. Really... I'll just have to wait until the memory of this photo fades.

We have a steady supply of reindeer meat in the office - both dried and frozen.  Below are some frozen packages that are for sale.  As I have mentioned in previous posts , I love reindeer meat!