What a great weekend. Lots of socializing, lots of sunshine (the sun stayed in the sky for over 5 hours each day!), and I continued the long, tortuous process of unpacking and getting my new house set up. Because it was bright and clear, it was the coldest it's been so far (-38C, and -50C with wind chill) but I didn't find it that much colder than when it was 15 to 20 degrees warmer. At a certain point, you don't seem to feel the difference. I quite comfortably went for a long walk and shoveled snow, with no ill effects.
The yellow ball in the sky
The sun rose around 11:30 am. It's hard to describe how wonderful it is to see bright sun after weeks of the blue half-light that has counted as daylight since I arrived... I almost didn't recognize that yellow ball in the sky.
This is the view out my front window overlooking the town, with the east channel of the Mackenzie River beyond - that thin white line is the ice highway. More information on that later!
I went for a walk on Saturday and took some pictures around town. This bench is on the campus of Aurora College. It looks like it's waiting for summer!
On Friday evening I had dinner with some friends who just moved to a new house, and we celebrated with delicious Chinese take-out (yes, we have decent take-out in Inuvik!) and some champagne.
Robbie Burns Supper
On Saturday evening I attended the Robbie Burns supper at the Legion in commemoration of Robert Burns, who was a famous Scottish poet, for those who have made it this far in life without hearing about him... including possibly my friends from other cultures. He wrote Auld Lang Syne, among many other songs and works of poetry.
The evening included amusing speeches, innuendos that were only mildly chauvinistic, a delicious meal, some haggis (which I count separately from the "delicious meal", no offence intended), and lots of laughs with friends.