-30 is the new +20

I know I haven’t written in a while.  I feel like there isn’t much to write about, but then when I sit down I can type for hours.   I figure December 31^st was a good night to catch up.

I’m back for round two.  Arrived December 19^th and am here until January 31^st.  Right before I left, on December 5^th, the sun went below the horizon for the last time, not to be seen again until January 6^th.  It’s called “polar nights” What a sunset it was! I was at work but able to get outside for a bit to get a few photos.  Photos never do sunsets justice so from these colourful shots you can only imagine what it was like in real life, just breathtaking!

Check out this link, courtesy of Jay Millington, of a time lapse of the final sunset.  Keep an eye on the horizon and watch how low the sun sits:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhkQrNmsHM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DjZhkQrNmsHM

Look at the time of the sunrise/sunset!

I had 10 days at home before  Christmas.  It was silly of me to think I to go back to Vancouver to get a break from the darkness.  The day I arrived it was sunny and the day I left it was sunny but it rained the whole time between.  Sigh.  And of course there was an “arctic front” in Vancouver with record low temperatures.  Sorry folks!  You can’t really bring the weather with you right?!

On the flight back up we stopped in a small town of Norman Wells.  I saw them filming the show “Ice Pilots”.  My dad likes it.  It’s a reality show where they follow Buffalo Airlines.  They fly WWII propeller airplanes throughout the Canadian north.  In one shot you can see the camera man.  What a hellish job that would be, standing outside all day filming.  Egads.

Both the Yellowknife airport and the Inuvik airport have polar bears on display.  A little strange considering polar bears are not seen in either town, but I guess they are a symbol for the Northwest Territories.  In that one display you can see the bear chasing a stuffed seal into the ice.  Seal skin is popular up here, mainly used for gloves and boots.  Very durable.  There was a pair of polar bear mitts at the craft show in December.  I thought polar bears were endangered but that’s not the case, at least in the western Arctic.  They have actually increased the number of tags for hunters.  I’m not sure if it’s a bear you eat, it’s at least used for the fur.  They don’t waste anything in the hunted animals.  I heard they use caribou brains to tan the hides once they are stretched.  People still stretch and tan their own hides.   These little things make me appreciate where I am.  How cool.   I mentioned in a previous blog one of my patients was a trapper and sold to Hudson's Bay.  When I was back in Vancouver I went to the downtown store and there it was - sheared beaver blankets ($4,000), muskrat hats, sealskin gloves.  I guess you don't notice the continued sale of fur until you go look for it.

It is not totally dark up here.  We get about 4 hours of dusk from about 11-3pm each day.  Here is a photo of the nursing residence I am staying in this time, so you can get an idea of the light.  The nursing residence is much better than the hotel from round one.  It’s a fully furnished little apartment with a full kitchen and oven.  Yes!  And I can still see the northern lights from my window.  Nothing like finishing your day with a glass of wine, sitting in the dark watching these ribbons of green dance across the sky.

The darkness is difficult.  I knew it would be.  Add night shifts and -30 Celsius outside (-22F) and it’s damn near impossible to get anything done.  Even with fistfuls of Vitamin D (6-8000 units a day) my body wants to sleep/hibernate.  I say to myself “just one more hour of sleep” an awful lot. Now that my stretch of 4 night shifts are over I’m determined to get to the gym more and get out for those few hours of light more.  Once the sun comes up again in January it will be the never ending sunsets again.  The other locum nurses that are here are finding it hard too.  The dark just makes you inherently reclusive, a little depressed and want to carb load.  We have agreed to help each other get out, socialize, stop by for a drink or dinner.  Anything really – even minus 35 walks!

I have learned -25 degrees Celsius (-13F)  is about my threshold.  Anything below that and you get an outside in brainfreeze, the face hurts (mainly my forehead/bridge of my nose) and it really takes your breath away. It makes the short walk across the parking lot from the hospital to the residences fairly uncomfortable with just a thin cotton layer of scrubs protecting your thighs from the cold. I’m not sure where my brain is but it sure feels like the air is going in one ear and out the other and it aches terribly.  A hat with ear flaps has become mandatory. 

Although I don’t have a car up here, I am learning what NOT to do with your vehicle, such as don’t leave your emergency brake on.  It will freeze and you won’t be able to move your car and it will destroy your brake pads.  Always keep the engine >1/2 full.  Condensation will form in a tank that is more than half empty and freeze and you will get water in your tank.   Who knew!  I’ve never had to know any of this living in Vancouver.

It was my first Christmas away from home and it was harder than I thought.  I worked 4 night shifts straight through the holidays which was probably the best thing for me to do.  Stay distracted.  The hospital had the best Christmas tree I have ever seen.  Someone handmade a banner that said “acute care nurses, cute enough to stop your heart, skilled enough to restart it”.  The nursing hats were all handmade too and there were some creative syringes.  I can take no credit for this, but I thought it was awesome.  I’ve been saying to Logan that I live very close to the North Pole so I could personally pass on to Santa that he has been a great boy this year.  Santa/CEO of the hospital came by on Christmas Eve and I got a photo for Logan.  I guess he studied it pretty carefully.  This guy looks like this at the best of times (sans suit) and it gets kids pretty excited when they see him in the grocery store I guess.  How fun.

My secret santa got me a pretty fabulous gift.  A wine cover that matches my jacket.  Talk about a wine pairing.  So funny!

I’m still braving some new food.  Right before Christmas I had reindeer (that’s right) stew.  I think it was Prancer, not sure, but it was delicious.  Thanks Jay!   I’m a full fledged Arctic Explorer now! Or at least that’s what my certificate says….

The Legion is still a main go to.  I’ve asked to become a member, of the women’s auxillary, but by the time I get approved, it will be time for me to leave! You usually need a family member that has served in the Canadian Forces to become a member.  I listed my grandfathers, great uncles, uncles etc that have served in the US forces and that seemed adequate.  For Christmas they had a big raffle.  You had to be a member to enter so I couldn’t buy tickets but it was fun to watch.  There was 186 single draws of hams, turkeys and “perfume”.  It’s illegal to raffle booze (wink).  It took almost three hours. I just sat and watched people waste their money on pull tabs, they LOVE the pull tabs!

We have something pretty amazing planned for New Years eve that I will save to blog about, and January is going to be action packed starting with the Sunrise Festival Jan 9,10,11.  I’m trying to figure out where my next adventure takes me.  I really want BC but it doesn’t look like there is any opportunity there right now.  I am considering coming back but I have to pay $22/day in rent up here and for the same hourly wage I don’t have to pay rent if I work for the agencies.  The groceries up here are VERY expensive.  I spend about $100 per week which is a lot as a single person.  We’ll see.  Stay tuned.