Where Did The Summer Go?

Welcome back readers...

...and a big thank you for your patience over the summer as I took a bit of a break from the world of blogging.  Although I took a break from the blog over the summer, the last two months were anything but slow and now that I’ve settled nicely back into life in the north, and a new school year I’ll take some time to fill you in on my ‘not so arctic’ adventures of the summer.  The majority of this post will be dedicated to pictures (lots of them) from my travels but I’ll take a minute to give you a brief run-down the high-lights of my summer.

The first two weeks following the end of the school year were spent in Pang both out of necessity and out of choice.  The week immediately preceding the end of school was spent moving into a new housing unit with a fellow teacher from the school.  It was a big job and one that I hope I don’t have to do again any time soon but it was well worth it as the new place is much nicer, newer, closer to work and much closer to the rest of the ‘gang’.  After spending a week getting moved into the new place and nicely settled I decided to spend another week being a ‘tourist’ here in Pang.  Because I didn’t arrive in the community until the fall of last year I wanted to see a bit of Pang in the summer so I decided to spend an extra week here.  The extra week here was definitely relaxing and a great way to start off the summer.

The relaxing week in Pang was definitely well appreciated once I arrived back in Ontario and began the arduous job of shopping for my sea-lift.  I won’t go into the gritty details but let’s just say for someone who doesn’t enjoy grocery shopping on the best of days, spending nearly two weeks shopping for enough supplies to last for the following year was not really the most enjoyable of experiences.  However, in the long run it will have been well worth it .  The experience wasn't really as bad as I make it out to be and I have to admit I did have a lot of help from my mom who even took time off work to help me with the shopping…thanks Mom!!  Truth be told there was enven an enjoyable aspect to the sea-lift shopping and that was the purchase of a new Ski-Doo.  I had been toying with the idea for a while and decided to make the plunge when I found a good deal on a 2007 Ski-Doo GTX 600.  Needless to say I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the snow!  After two days of organizing and boxing, all my stuff (Ski-Doo included) was delivered to Ottawa to be crated up and then tucked to Montreal to be put on the ship.

Shortly after finishing up with the last of the sea-lift I headed off to the east coast for 10 days with my parents.  We made it to New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia and were able to catch-up with lots friends and family, many whom I hadn’t seen in ten years since my last visit to Canada’s ‘right’ coast.  We had an awesome time and it was definitely great to spend some quality time with my parents after having been away for a year.  As is always the case, time flew bye and before I knew it, it was time for me to fly back to Ontario and prepare for the next adventure of the summer.

After a quick turn around of just two days at home (just enough time to do laundry, repack and find my passport) I was back on the road again headed to Detroit to catch a flight to London, England.  Earlier in the spring, Kim (a good friend and fellow teacher here in Pang) had invited me to join her for 10 days in England.  Kim’s family is all from England and she was headed there to visit her Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and a bunch of friends so she graciously invited me to tag along.  Of course this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up and I figured if I was going to be in England I might as well tack on a trip up to Scotland. 

Passport in hand, I flew off to London a week before I was to meet up with Kim and made my way north to Scotland by high-speed train.  I first visited Glasgow with the main intention of visiting the small town outside of the city where my grandfather was born; however, I missed my train and never did make it to Girvan.  Nonetheless, I made the best of my time in Glasgow and took in as much of this city of 2 million as I could in three days.  After Glasgow I was once again on the move, this time to Edinburgh.  I couldn’t have picked a better time to visit this beautiful city (although it was completely unplanned) as it was the kick-off of the festival season.  There were literally hundreds of street performers spread out across the city as well as hundreds of comedy shows at a variety of venues.  Although I enjoyed Glasgow, Edinburgh was by far my favourite and I could have easily spent two weeks there, however, I needed to head back to London to meet up with Kim.  After an amazing week in Scotland I headed back south to London to meet Kim at the airport to start the second leg of my U.K. adventure.

We were met at the airport by Kim’s Aunt and Uncle who drove us back to their hometown of Seaford on England’s south coast.  The ten days we were there went by way too fast but were highlighted by some great trips back into London, across the English Channel to Dieppe, France and down the coast to the famous sea-side city of Brighton.   I could probably write pages and pages about the awesome time I had with Kim, her family and friends during my ten days in England and the truly awesome weather we had but I will keep it short and let you see for yourself in the pictures.  I will say that Kim’s Aunt and Uncle were amazing hosts and couldn’t do enough for me while I stayed at their beautiful home.  Kim’s friends welcomed me wholeheartedly and made sure I got a true taste of life in England.  And last, but not least, I owe a huge thanks to my intrepid tour guide, chauffer and social director Kim!  Kim constantly went out of her way to make sure that I was entertained and enjoying myself.  Without a doubt this was one of the most enjoyable holidays I’ve been on and one I certainly won’t soon forget.  So a huge THANK YOU goes out to Kim for everything!!

After an unexpected overnight in Newark, New Jersey due to 2 ½ hours spent in line at American Customs and Immigration and a missed connection to Detroit I was back in Canada.  I was lucky enough to be able to spend a few days with my sister (who I hadn’t seen since Christmas) before heading back to my parents place and than all too quickly back to Ottawa for the flight back up north.  Indeed it was an action-packed and extremely busy summer and unfortunately I wasn’t able to see everyone I had hoped to.  Nonetheless, it was great catching up with those friends and family I was able to see and of course it was awesome being able to enjoy my first summer off as a teacher with some fantastic travels.

So there you have it folks, my summer in a little bit more than a nut shell!  Once again I’ve gone on much longer than I intended to so I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking…enjoy!

Confederation Bridge (New Brunswick side)

Manditory on any trip to the east coast!

Halifax

Buchanan Street, Glasgow

My high-speed ride between London and Glasgow (Sir Richard doesn't just own planes!)

Edinburgh under typical Scottish skies!

The 'Old City', Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

The Castle from another vantage point

Does it get much more Scottish than this?

Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, Port of Leith, Edinburgh

Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh...and yes, it does get sunny in Scotland!

Beachy Head, East Sussex, England

Kim and I at Beachy Head

Yours truly on the Seaford 'Front', East Sussex, England

Seaford Head

Crazy kids!

More crazy kids!

Kim and some of her mates at the Brighton Casino...the same casino we got kicked out of!!

Dieppe, France

Dieppe marina

Transmanche Ferry...sadly I'll never get back the 9 hours of my life I spent on this ship crossing the English Channel and back!

Canadian War Cemetery, Dieppe

"Their Name Liveth For Evermore"

The view of Dieppe from the Chateau du Dieppe

The infamous beach 5 days shy of the 65th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid

Westdean, East Sussex, England

The South Downs

Overlooking Eastbourne, East Sussex, England

Bowling in Brighton

A modern version of a London classic!

Another modern take on a classis...the London Taxi

The original Hard Rock Cafe

The pigeons of Trafalgar Square, London

Trafalgar Square

Nelson's Column

Big Ben!

Westminster Abbey, London

The River Thames and the London Eye

Yet again!

Unmistakable!

St. Paul's

Tower Bridge

A closer look!

London Skyline

British Parliament, Westminster Palace

Liz and Phil's place...Buckingham Palace

Looking down The Mall from Buckingham Palace

English countryside...East Sussex

The Seven Sisters, East Sussex, England

My tour guide and I at the Seven Sisters!

Kimmie and her cell phone...inserparable!!

Postcard picture perfect!

Thanks for checking in and reading about my summer adventures.  Make sure you stay tuned for more updates in the coming days on the first couple of weeks back in the Great White North!

Until the next adventure...

C.

Land of the Midnight Sun

I thought some of my readers from more southern locals would be interested in seeing some pictures of one of the truly unique aspects of life in the north…the midnight sun.  Although here in Pang we don’t technically get midnight sun because we are just below the Arctic Circle, we still do get 24 hours of day light.  Today the sun rose at 1:01 am and will set at 11:48 pm, giving us a total of just under 23 hours of day light, however, those hours between sunset and sunrise are still quite bright because the sun is just below the tops of the mountains.  I’ve found a website that’s kind of cool as it gives all the sun stats (sunrise, sunset, etc) as well as some interesting graphs which all pertain to the hours of sunlight we get here in Pang.  http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/pangnirtung.html

The following Pictures were taken at about 12:30am last Saturday morning while walking home from Kim and Austin’s.  It is definitely a strange feeling to be walking around at midnight when it is as light as this; however, it sure makes up for the long hours of darkness we get in the winter!

I think I’ll leave it at that for today.  I’ve got some marks to input into the computer to get a head-start on the final round of report cards for the end of the year.  Hope your June is off to a good start.

Until next time…

C.

Photo-Blog

Hey Hey...

I decided to skip the lengthy written entry and make this a photo-blog.  The first set of pictures are a collection of shots from our school trip to the Arctic Circle back in April.  The pics aren’t actually mine but they’re from a collection of shared pictures from the trip that Austin put together on a CD for us to all enjoy.  There are probably well over 500 pictures on the disk but these are just a few that I particularly enjoyed.  So thanks to all who contributed to the collection!

By far my favorite picture!

Not a lot of snow to travel on.

The turquoise colour of the ice was incredible.

Halie and yours truly.

Simply amazing!

Staff, students and guides at the 'Circle'.

A good group shot of the 'gang' gathered after the trip to share our pictures.

This next set of pictures are some of my own that were taken during our school picnic at the end of April.  Both schools in town took a Friday afternoon off and headed across the fjord on skidoos to enjoy some hotdogs, hot chocolate, and sliding  in the awesome spring weather!

This pup is definitely enjoying the spring weather...and the attention!

Brother and sister.

A dried seal skin makes a great sled!

A polar bear skin also makes a great sled!!!

I've heard a nice polar bear skin can go for upwards of $10,000...making this the most expensive sled I've ever ridden on!!!

That's about it for today.  I should run; lots of work to do getting ready for the end of the school year.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Until the next adventure...

C.

Spring Camp Update (Lots of Pics!)

Hey Everyone!

It’s hard to believe but yet another month has nearly past since my last update.  I don’t know if the old adage ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ exactly fits the past month but it certainly has been busy and definitely has had its fair share of excitement.  Work has been busy as usual, however, now that the summer break is clearly within sight things are slowly starting to wind down for the year.  That being said there still seems to be a great deal of energy amongst the students who are definitely excited to see the return of the sun and some nice weather.  For the most part, I don’t really think they have much interest in spending their days in the classroom while the sun is shining and I can’t say that I blame them too much!  When you go from 24 hours of darkness in the winter to 24 hours of daylight in the spring and summer months there is something that is slightly more appealing about being outside than in a stuffy classroom!

Besides the everyday busyness of work, I’ve also been pretty busy getting all the assignments completed for the ESL course that I’ve been taking online at Queen’s.  I definitely am glad that I took the course because I think it will be very valuable to both my teaching here in the north as well as when I do decide to make the move back down south but I certainly found it challenging to find the time (and more so the motivation) to get all the assignments done while still trying to keep up with all my work at school.  Nonetheless, as of Thursday I had completed all the assignments so I can happily put that chapter of my life behind me…until the next on-line course I take!

Without question, however, the highlight of this past month has been the school’s annual exodus to Spring Camp.  Every year over the course of three weeks, usually at the end of April or early May, the students get to leave behind the confines of the classroom for a week of camping, hunting and fishing out on the land.  This year my grade sevens along with the other class of grade sevens and the grade eight class were the first group from the school to head out to Spring Camp from April 24^th to the 27^th (3 nights and 4 days).  The camp is located about a 45-minute snowmobile ride out of town just past the mouth of the Pangnirtung Fjord, on the shore of the Cumberland Sound.  It is really a beautiful location offering spectacular views on a clear day.  Although I left town prepared to spend my time out at camp in a tent, I was quite pleased upon my arrival to the campsite to find a number of newly built cabins complete with heaters.  So although we were camping in the basic sense of the word for the four days we were out there, we certainly weren’t roughing it!

My experience out at Spring Camp was most certainly the highlight thus fur of my time here in Pang.  It was so amazing to spend an extended period out on the land with my students as well as elders from the community, experiencing some of the traditional ways of the Inuit.  During the days our time was divided between ice fishing at Lake Avaatuuktuu (about an hours snowmobile ride from camp) or out on the floe-edge seal hunting.  Although I really enjoyed the two days I was able to get out fishing regardless of not catching a thing or the exceptionally rough kamotiq ride, by far my favorite experience of Spring Camp was the trip out the floe-edge of the ice to sea hunt.  The floe-edge is where the open water meets the edge of the ice and besides being a good place to hunt seals, it an amazing place to visit!  It is such a unique place to be as you stand at the very edge of the ice looking down into the depths of the frigid Arctic waters; definitely something I won’t forget soon.  I was lucky enough while out with our elder guides to see them get two seals, again a truly unique experience from seeing them shoot it to watching them cut it up for the meet and the skin. 

Our four days at Spring Camp definitely went too fast and I don’t think anyone was really looking too forward to the prospect of going back into town and back to the realities of everyday life (except perhaps for a shower)!  However, we had to give up our spots at the camp so the high school students (grades 9 – 12) along with 10  grade 12 exchange students and two teachers from Ottawa could begin their week out at camp.  It was definitely hard getting back into the routine of school after being out at camp all week, that being said however, I was lucky enough to get one more day out at camp during the week the high school students were there when I made a day trip out to camp with Claus on the skidoo he was borrowing from the Park Manager who was out of town.  That day was also spent out at the floe-edge seal hunting but will most likely be remembered as the day that we almost lost the skidoo through the ice!  As we were making our way out of camp towards the floe-edge we had to pass through the pack ice that had been pushed up on the rocky shore by the action of the tide.  As you can imagine this isn’t the most stable of ground to be passing over in a snowmobile, but it is unavoidable when transitioning from the land to the sea ice.  Any way, at one point we had to stop to wait for the skidoo in front of us to maneuver through a particularly challenging section of the trail; not 15 seconds after I had stepped of the back of the skidoo, and with Claus still on the front, the huge chunk of ice under it gave way to the rocks and water below!  Thank-God for the kamotiq hitch on the back of the skidoo, it along with the tips of the skis at the front of the machine were the only thing that kept Claus and the skidoo from ending up in the Cumberland Sound!  Although I can look back on this and chuckle, at the time it was a little scary as we weren’t exactly sure how we would get the machine out of the hole as the track was hanging in mid-air about 6 or 7 feet above the rocks and water.  Luckily a few students who had been watching the whole ordeal from the camp came down and gave us a hand lifting the skidoo out of the hole and onto more a more solid slab of ice allowing us to continue on our way out to the flow-edge.

All in all my time at Spring Camp was probably some of the most enjoyable days I’ve had since being in Nunavut.  I feel extremely lucky to have been included in this experience and look very much forward to getting out there again next year.

The cook-shack.

Some of the students climbing the hill behind the camp.

Two different techniques for catching char.

The un-spoiled beauty of the Canadian Arctic.

Ready for seal hunting on the floe-edge.

Floe-edge dead ahead.

The first open water I've seen in five months!

Next stop Greenland.

Checking the ice thinkness.

This is where the 'road' ends.

Waiting patiently for the seals.

Some of my students keeping thier eyes peeled for any signs of seals.

Getting the boat ready to retreive the seal that's just been shot.

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

WARNING!!!

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

The following pictures are somewhat graphic, please skip ahead if you are sensitive.

The boys with thier catch.

The spots indicate that this is a fairly young seal.

It's clear how the seals survive in the arctic waters when you see the thick layer of fat.

Yours truly getting a close look at how to skin a seal.

The boys enjoying thier favorite part of the seal...the eye.  This is a true northern delicacy and serves to illustrate the resourcefulness of the Inut who waste nothing, showing great respect for the animals they hunt to sustanin themselves.

A view of the floe-edge (which can just barely be seen) from camp.

Another view of camp from up the hill.

My accommodations for the week...not too shabby for camping!

One of the students' favorite places to slide at camp.

Inside the well-stocked cook-shack...no one goes hungry at Srping Camp!

The only thing I caught all week!!

This is what everyone else was catching!

One of the large 'leads' or cracks in the ice that we had to cross on out way out to camp.

A closer look.  It's actually fialry safe to cross as long as you keep your speed up!

The trail to camp through the ice slabs piled high on the shore

Not the easiest terrain to to skidoo through but it makes for some great pictures.

The skidoo after we lifted it out of the gaping hole caused by the falling ice slab which can be seen at the bottom of the cravasse under the machine.

Wide-open spaces!

I'd be happy to spend all three weeks out here!

A high school student checking the ice thickness at the edge.

Becky and a student on the look-out for seals.

What an amzing place and an amazing experiece.

So there you have it folks, Spring Camp through my eyes.  I apologize for the massive collection of pictures but there were so many awesome things to see at camp that I wanted to give you all a good idea of just how amazing an experience it truly was.  I continue to be amazed by the shear beauty of Nunavut and its people, I always feel so fortunate to be experiencing the things I am during my time here on Baffin Island, and my time at Spring Camp was no different.  It was a truly unique experience to spend a week out on the land with my students learning about some of the traditional ways of the Inuit.  I hope this post finds you well in your corner of the world, wherever that may be.

 The adventure continues…

C.

Arctic Circle Adventure (An Up-Date At Last!!)

Looking back at the date of my last post, I guess it is about time that I made a long over-due up-date to my blog!  Although the past two months have been pretty busy between work and the on-line course I’m taking at Queen’s, one of the biggest reasons for the lack of posts has been the return of the sun and some fabulous weather!  During the dark cold days of winter it was much more appealing to stay in the house and up-date the blog than to venture out into the -40 degree weather.  However, now that spring has arrived and we’re getting 16+ hours of sunlight a day (sunrise today 4:16am / sunset 8:27pm) and warmer weather I’m finding it pretty hard to spend my free time on the computer as opposed to being outside enjoying the beautiful arctic spring.  Nonetheless, I hope to be a bit more regular with my blog up-dates in the coming weeks and months as the arrival of spring means a lot of interesting activities and events both around the school and the community.

To get things rolling again after the two-month hiatus I figured I’d better start things off on a high-note and I think the trip that the school took last Friday (the 13^th!!) to Auyuittuq National Park and the Arctic Circle is just the adventure to do that!  I woke up on Friday morning to bright sunshine and temperatures of about -15^oC, perfect weather for the 50km journey into the park and on to the Arctic Circle.  After getting bundled up in numerous layers of clothing and stuffing my backpack full of additional layers, extra mitts, toques and socks I was well prepared for whatever Mother Nature had in store for us – if there is one thing I have learned during my time here in the arctic it’s to be prepared for any kind of weather.  Any way, after getting geared-up at home I made my way down to the beach to find myself a kamotiq (traditional Inuit sled) to ride in for the 2 ½ trip into the park.  As per the rules of Auyuittuq Park only Land Claims Beneficiaries are allowed to travel on snowmobiles into the park, all other people must either go in by foot or in a kamotiq being pulled by a snowmobile driven by a Beneficiary.  Although it sounds complicated it was really no problem as lots of local people came out with their snowmobiles and kamotiqs to take all the students and staff of the school into the park.

We departed Pang at about 9:15am and made out way up the fjord and into the park.  I had been warned that kamotiqs are not always the most comfortable mode of transportation but for the trip into the park I seemed to find the ‘sweet spot’ where my driver had padded the sled well with cushions and what I think were wolf furs.  The first hour or so of the trip into the park was smooth sailing across the relative smoothness of the layer of snow on top of the frozen waters of the fjord.  It was definitely exciting and fascinating to see what was beyond the Pangnirtung Pass as we can’t see much past that point from here in the town.  It was definitely awe-inspiring scenery that I won’t soon forget.  The jagged peeks of the mountains reminded me a lot of the Rockies and the effects of glaciation were evident everywhere.

Getting ready to head out.

My kamotiq companions!

One of the many skidoo's and kamotiqs taking us into the park.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect!

Nearing the end of the Pangnirtung Fjord.

Time for a quick break...much needed for those of us in the kamotiqs!

As we reach the end of the fjord and transitioned onto Weasel River at the entrance of the park the traveling conditions became noticeably more challenging as there was a very evident lack of snow.  Strong winds a few weeks ago combined with the geography of the area resulted in wind-tunnel effect which pretty much blew all the loose, dry snow, so typical of the arctic, away meaning for the remainder of the trip we were forced to take things quite slow as we were traveling on the glare ice of the river.  This isn’t an easy feat at the best of times with a snowmobile but with a kamotiq in tow things become even more difficult as the sled often wants to fish-tale and jackknife with the snowmobile!  As if that wasn’t challenging enough there were a few spots along the way where  we were forced to traverse significant amounts of sediment, sand and gravel that had been blown onto the frozen surface of the river…probably not the most ideal conditions for a snowmobile!!  Despite the challenging conditions we pushed on towards our final destination of the Arctic Circle passing some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen in my life.  From the most amazing turquoise ice in the rivers and braided streams to the hanging glaciers of the Penny Icecap, it really was sight to behold.  I know I have mentioned it numerous times in pervious blogs but I really do feel incredibly privileged to be able to see such a beautiful and untouched part of our country, the north is such an amazing place.

Not much snow in the park.

Our stopping point for the day.  Crater lake is at the top of the moraine.

Despite great effort from our very skilled Inuit guides/drivers the challenging conditions from the lack of snow proved to be dangerous and difficult to continue right to the Arctic Circle marker so the group of 30 or so snowmobiles and kamotiqs stopped to set up our picnic spot at the base of the moraine which encircles Crater Lake.  Although not our intended destination Crater Lake was only about 2km from the Circle and proved to be a great spot to stop as the scenery of the area was so picturesque.  Not long after arriving I joined a number of teachers and students for a steep climb up the side of the moraine to get a view of Crater Lake and the glacier that feeds it.  Mother Nature definitely didn’t disappoint, the views from the top of the moraine were spectacular and the colours in the ice of the lake and the glacier were truly amazing.  After the obligatory picture ops in front of the glacier we slid down the side of the moraine making quick work of the descent and arriving back at the picnic spot just in time for hotdogs, loads of bannock bread and tea and hot chocolate to warm us up.

Crater Lake and the hanging glacier that feeds it.

Yours truly at Crater Lake!

What a view!

Not long after finishing lunch our guides and drivers unhitched their kamotiqs and offered to take those of us that wanted to up to the Arctic Circle Marker on the back of their skidoos.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stand on the Circle so I eagerly jumped on the back of a skidoo and sucked in more of my amazing surroundings as we made our way to the marker.  As we made our way to the Circle it became quite evident why we couldn’t make it there with the kamotiqs in tow, the route required following a river ‘up stream’ across some significant rapids (frozen of course!), traversing a number of patches of sand and gravel an then crossing a large expanse of glare ice.  After about 10 minutes and some really skilled maneuvering on the part of my skidoo driver, I arrived at the Arctic Circle along with a number of colleagues and friends.  It really was a once in a life time experience to be standing on the Arctic Circle on a beautiful spring day amid the unbelievable natural beauty of the Canadian Artic.  It definitely felt like a scene from a movie or television, it just seemed so surreal, truthfully there aren’t really the words to describe it.  At this time last year when I was enduring the final few weeks of my B.Ed. classes at Queen’s I would have never in a million years imagined that in a year’s time I would be standing on the Arctic Circle.  It is definitely an experience that I will never forget.

Not sure when I'll make it this far north again!

Mary, Pat (two crazy women from Newfoundland who claim to be teachers!) and myself at the Arctic Circle!

Words don't do this place justice.

Mary and I taking it all in at the Circle.

Not long after arriving back at the picnic spot the kamotiqs were hitched up, loaded up and making their way back to Pang.  The trip back was definitely a lot faster than the trip in as everyone seemed to anxious to get home meaning they weren’t shy about picking up the speed!  Although the ride was enjoyable it was markedly rougher as my kamotiq companions decided to let me enjoy the unpadded part of the sled that they got to experience on the ride in!  Needless to say the high speeds combined with the hard, wind-packed snow drifts on the fjord were pretty jarring at times making for some stiff muscles and sore shoulders in the days following the trip!

This is definitely a chapter in my Arctic Adventure that I won’t soon forget.  The beautiful weather, the great company and the truly spectacular scenery made for an amazing day.  If there was one downside to the trip it was that it passed by all too quickly but I am truly grateful for the experience.

Hopefully now that I’ve gotten back into the ‘blogging’ mode I’ll be a little more faithful with my updates.  I apologize to those of you who have been waiting so long for a new post but as I said, these days, Mother Nature is often more appealing than sitting at my computer especially when I already have to spend more time than I would like on it completing work for my course at Queen’s.  That being said, I’ll be spending the upcoming week out on the land at spring camp with my students so there should be lots of new and exciting adventures to write about after that experience!  I can’t wait!!!

Until the next adventure…..

C.