My Last Post

Huh…in many ways I thought this day would NEVER come, and in others it seems like it’s here much too soon. I’m talking, of course, about my last post from Alert.

Between my two rotations up here, I’ve lived at 82.5°N for a grand total of 206 days. Many of those ‘days’ didn’t have a sun component, but you learn to deal with that up here. In fact, looking back on all the different diurnal rhythms that I’ve experienced here, I’d have to say that I enjoyed the Noon Moon (my slightly naughty sounding opposite to ‘Midnight Sun’) the most. Where else can you wander outside in the middle of the afternoon and go stargazing?!

I don’t have much to say before closing off this blog for the next foreseeable future (pending further adventures abroad), so I’ll keep it short. Thank you so much to everyone that sent me a package, letter, e-mail or even just followed my postings anonymously. It’s very easy to disconnect yourself from the ‘real world’ up here, and you all kept me sane (relatively speaking :P). I couldn’t help but smile looking at the hodgepodge of cards and memorabilia that I kept arranged on my desk, and packing them all away today made me think of each and every one of you.

Weather Gods willing, I board my plane South late afternoon on Tuesday, arriving in Ontario in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday. My Beautiful chauffeur will greet me the next morning and then it’s on to Christmas festivities…for those of you NOT expecting Alert merchandise, you’ll have to wait a few weeks for your gifts :)

As I said when signing off from my last tour, I hope that you’ve had as much fun reading about my [mis]adventures in the Arctic as I’ve had telling of them. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Graham

Windy Day

See, I’m making up for my silence with two posts back-to-back!


We woke yesterday morning to a fairly blustery day. When Byron and I got back to the office and checked the anemometer readings from the lab we saw that the winds were a sustained 95km/h, gusting to 110km/h!! I took a few videos that afternoon as it started to die down, but I was still blown back against the railing. It’s hard to judge how fast the wind it blowing in the darkness, but trust me…it’s blowing.





The good part about the high wind? Temperature goes up. It is currently a balmy -4°C. That’s the warmest I’ve ever experienced in Alert. It actually feels warm out.

See you all soon,

Graham

Christmas in Alert

Wow, I REALLY haven’t updated this blog in a long time. It’s not that anything isn’t going on up here, it’s more that the routine had settled into a very comfortable rhythm and I was just riding the wave :)

That has all changed this weekend since Christmas is [obviously] just around the corner. While personally that means I’m almost out of here, for the people that will be up here for the holidays it’s important to keep the Christmas Cheer high! Therefore, I give you the Alert Christmas Parade!!

There was an open call for any houses, professions or just individuals that wanted to enter a float in the parade down the linkway. Byron and I were wooed by several competing factions, but eventually we settled on a GAW Lab/Traffic Techs float…mainly because they had the same creative mind frame as us (Lazy). We strapped a pallet to a cart, threw some tinsel on, and then played instruments and sang all the way down the linkway. We had three songs, and the timing was perfect. We started out strong with Jingle Bells, played a smooth rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and then finished with a stunning performance of Santa Clause Is Coming to Town.

I can’t believe how quickly this tour is progressing. I’m now into the single digits of days left before my plane gets in. As much as I want to go home, I really do love it up here. As next week spools out and I start doing things for the last time I might start to feel a little sad.

I’ll try to get one last post in before I go home. Hope the pre-Christmas Season is treating everyone well. I’m whistling Christmas carols under my breath every waking minute!
 
Graham